


to build a home (with you)

by asteriasera



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Injury, F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Medical Trauma, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Slow Burn Keith/Lance (Voltron), Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-23 05:07:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23006221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asteriasera/pseuds/asteriasera
Summary: Keith was eighteen when the world fell into a screaming chaotic mess full of the dead rising from their graves.He was eighteen when he lost his mother.He was twenty when he lost his brother and any sense of hope for the end of the apocalypse.He was twenty-three when he fell in love.There are only three rules for Keith at twenty-three: don't get bit, run and don't look back. He's a man on a mission: find Shiro. That has been his life for the past couple of years, and he knows that it's exactly how each day of his life will go until he completes that mission.That is, until he meets Lance."And what are you going to do if I say no?" Keith asked cockily, narrowing his eyes with a knife still in the other man's face.The man only rolled his eyes, the tip of his rifle still up against Keith's chest. "I guess we'll never know."Keith only let out a forced short laugh. What a fuckingasshole.
Relationships: Allura/Lotor (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), James Griffin/Nadia Rizavi, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 36
Kudos: 129





	1. prologue.

Keith had never trusted the news.

He felt that it was all made up bullshit that the government made people report on to distract the public about what was _actually_ going on. Ever since he was young, he could recall booing at the TV whenever his mother would turn the news on to be kept up to date on what was happening. After all, she was a cop, and a good one at that. She would only shake her head at Keith's antics while Shiro sat at the kitchen table with his various textbooks and notebooks. The news was like static for him, Keith remembered Shiro telling him on one occasion. He also remembered Shiro clearly telling him that he didn't believe half the things reporters were saying and secretly agreed with Keith's theory. Eight year old Keith had never experienced such joy like that.

Shiro was like an idol for Keith. He was not his biological brother by any means but that didn't stop them from seeing each other as brothers.

Krolia had adopted Shiro after dealing with a case where he was left orphaned at two years old, and since she and her husband back then could not conceive they adopted him. Four years later Keith showed up and according to Shiro, he was 'the fattest baby I've ever seen'. The four of them were one big happy family with Shiro helping Krolia change and bathe Keith and helping his dad mow the lawn or do anything else that needed to be done. Shiro was the ideal help in the household.

Keith guessed that was what helped his mom a lot when his dad died in a fire after trying to help two children get out of a burning apartment building. The children made it, but he didn't. Keith was four when it happened, and hearing the news talk about how his father had died in the fire hurt him and he would shut off the TV to go cuddle with his mom and Shiro who at this point were all living together in one room in an effort to comfort one another. Keith hated the news for talking about his dad as did everyone else, and later on as he was old enough to understand that the news wasn't lying he suspected that the reports on his father's death had been the cause for his hatred of the news.

The news was always something his entire family took with a grain of salt after the accident; things were always being over exaggerated or under explained. Krolia often explained her distaste for the reporting crew of Olkarion for never bothering to put any effort into explaining exactly what happened. The lack of accuracy annoyed everyone in the household, so they never paid any attention to the news. 

Not until his senior year of high school, anyways.

Keith was seventeen when the first reports of The Serpent's Pestillence began to pour out. Reports claimed that a new disease had first been discovered in China after many came to hospitals with the same symptoms, only to be quarantined for a set number of days before eventually dying. The disease was spreading fast and the entirety of China was placed in quarantine since scientists could not pinpoint the exact location of origin, only stating that the disease most likely originated from the serpents being sold at various open air markets scattered throughout the country. This was the only news that interested Keith, mainly because of the absurdity of the entire situation.

"Hey mom," he called out, looking up from his calculus notes to stare at the TV with a firm frown, "can you turn that up?"

Krolia looked at him incredulously from the couch where she sat with her cat in her lap, glasses on the tip of her nose. "Keith honey, are you feeling alright? You hate the news."

"Just turn it up, please?"

A small smile formed on Krolia's face and she shook her head slightly before turning up the TV volume with the remote control. The voice of the woman speaking was suddenly much more clear, Keith ultimately pleased as he set his pencil down to listen more closely to the news without being distracted by calculus.

" _The virus has infected more than half of China's population and with millions dead, the Chinese government has officially closed off all its borders and has placed extra military presence to ensure no one leaves or enters the country. All airports and trains are closed, and citizens are warned to stay inside of their homes, wear masks and avoid all contact with the infected to prevent the further spread of the virus._ "

" _The virus is easily spread and scientists have now said that it is capable of spreading even during the incubation period which for this virus is a total of two days. For two days the infected will show little to no symptoms, those few symptoms being classic headaches and a slightly runny nose. After two days, the virus rapidly progresses. The first day after the incubation period is over, a person with the Serpent's Pestilence will develop flu like symptoms such as fever, pain, vomiting and uncontrollable chills. This is all takes place within the first five hours, after which muscle spasms take place. Slurred speech and a raging fever which can cause severe dementia are also present, and all this happens at the ten hour mark when the virus begins to take its victim down. Within twelve hours, the victim is completely paralyzed and typically on the borderline of passing out and staying alert. The senses are all lowered, and the victim feels a numb like sense wash across them. By fifteen hours, they fall into a coma and eventually pass away at the twenty-four hour mark or before that._ "

Keith let out a small noise of indifference and turned back to his homework, brows furrowed. "Sounds like the end of the world to me."

"Keith, you really need to stop watching all those 'apocalypse survival' videos," Shiro chastised as he came out of his room, dressed in casual sweatpants and a sweatshirt that read 'NASA'. "Those are full of more crap than the news is."

"I don't know," Krolia said as she stared at the TV, her brows furrowed. "This seems like a pretty serious virus."

"Okay yeah well, I think they got the virus part right but do you really believe that it's only in China?" Keith said with a scoff. "Please. Europe is probably suffering and the news is most likely months behind. I mean, how are the reports just coming out now when millions are already dead? It's fishy."

"Ah, ever the conspiracy theorist," Shiro teased as he sat down next to Keith. "The virus won't come here. I'm sure the government will come to its senses and will cut off all contact with China. I feel bad for those people who live here who are over there, though."

" _The virus is spread through interaction with contaminated bodily fluids such as those produced from sexual intercourse, blood, or spit. I repeat, the touch of an infected person does not mean you will be infected unless your bodily fluids come into contact with contaminated ones. This virus is not likely to spread elsewhere and authorities are warning people to stay calm and go on with their day._ "

Krolia shook her head. "The virus is going to spread and everyone will be infected because of the lack of proper information. That's just how viruses work."

"They don't even have a cure for it or a proper name," Keith scoffed. "I mean, Serpent's Pestilence? Really? What a bunch of crap." He then perked up, smiling at Krolia excitedly. "Can I start building a fallout shelter now?"

"No," Krolia replied with an amused grin, "not yet. Besides, the basement down at the precinct has a metal vault in it. That's enough shelter for us to survive the virus."

While Keith and Krolia began to speak about the fallout shelter, Shiro craned his neck to see the TV more clearly. His eyes narrowed as the video footage of those in the hospital laying in beds and cots, all in different stages of the aftermath of the virus. In the background staff could be seen running with a stretcher that held about five bodies on it, police officials running after them with guns and tasers.

"Why would they need people with guns in the hospital?" Shiro asked Krolia, eyes not leaving the screen.

Krolia furrowed her brows, turning to look at Shiro in confusion. "Guns in hospitals? We don't do that unless the government steps in and asks us to protect those inside the hospital. Why?"

"Hm." Shiro quickly got up and walked back into his room, only to walk back out in less than ten seconds with his tablet in hand. He sat back down at the table with Keith, typing in the name of the virus into his search bar. "Aha!"

"What's 'aha'?" Keith asked, peering over Shiro's shoulder at the screen. "Woah, is that guys ripping off another guy's face?"

"This video was taped by an innocent bystander who claims that the victim and attacker were both in the same car and had pulled over to the side of the freeway when the attack began. The victim quickly got out of his car and began running, desperately trying to hail other drivers down for help when the attacker suddenly jumped through the front dashboard and attacked the victim, who had no time to run."

"Out the front dashboard?" Krolia asked incredulously.

"The attacker looked seemingly normal and one Good Samaritan called the police after managing to hit the man, effectively pushing him off the victim and hauling him inside his car. The attacker has been taken into custody and the victim is being treated at the hospital although he is in a severely critical condition. Attacker was confirmed to be a victim of the Serpent's Pestilence and government officials claim that the attack was a result of his advanced dementia. No further details have been released," Shiro finished reading.

A silence fell between the small group of three, and Keith snatched the tablet out of Shiro's hands with slight resistance.

"Let me see that." He continued scrolling through Shiro's social media feed, the same video played over and over again with some other footage of those in hospitals where distant moans and screams were heard day and night. Another video captured by an Wuhan native showed footage of various people attacking others in an open market, the police forces talking loudly and trying to take the attackers down with bullets.

"Despite media coverage warning people to take care of themselves, the virus continues to spread past the Chinese borders and cases have been confirmed in Britain, Japan, North Korea and many other European countries," Keith read aloud with a firm frown. "All flights have been grounded to prevent the further spread of the virus and government officials have officially declared a state of emergency in all Eastern Hemisphere countries."

Krolia stared at Keith for a while before standing up, taking her phone into her hands and dialing a number quickly. She pressed the phone up to her ear and walked out of the living room, leaving Shiro and Keith to stare at each other in confusion.

"What the hell is going on in China?"

"End of the world I guess," Keith said indifferently and returned back to scrolling through the feed, video after video popping up. "I can't believe he jumped through a dashboard. Do you think I can do that, Shiro?"

"Keith you are legally an adult now. Please don't make mom place charges on your for jumping through the dashboard." Frowning, he looked back down at the tablet. "I can't believe this is actually happening. It's like the flu all over again!"

"Yeah, except this is actually killing people in two days," Keith deadpanned. "The flu is weak in comparison to this thing."

"I'm not sure that's such a good thing," Shiro said with a shake of his head. "What if it hits us? It could wipe out the entire human population!"

"Shiro, please. The news is like months behind; I'm sure the virus has already made its way into the United States by now."

"Wow, that's a relief," Shiro said sarcastically. "Totally not freaking me out or anything. No, I'm totally okay with a killer virus going around! Totally! You sure know how to ease a man's fears, Keith."

Keith snorted at that, shooting Shiro a quick smirk. "You're absolutely welcome."

The conversation had ended at that with everyone in the house concluding that the news was indeed bullshit since they were barely beginning to report on the virus when it had been out for months and had only recently spiraled out of complete control.

Despite all the whispers about possible Serpent's Pestilence showing up in rural isolated areas within the United States, Keith didn't pay much attention to the virus and eventually learned to ignore the talk. His mother, however, was deeply concerned with the virus and was spending less and less time at home, down at the precinct almost twenty four-seven.

"Why do they have you working in the middle of the night at the precinct? You have a home," Keith said crossly to Krolia over dinner one night in February.

"It's not my choice. They're training us all in case of an outbreak here and I need to be there. It's my job, Keith. You know that."

"If people die they die! They'd be stupid to swap spit with a clearly sick person anyways, so in a way they deserve it for being stupid. Don't you think so, Shiro?"

"Please eat your ramen and stop talking."

Weeks passed after that and Keith found himself reluctantly paying more and more attention to the growing rumors that the virus had made a touchdown in the United States. Upon Shiro and his mom's insistence they quickly raided the stores along with many other people who were packing down in preparation of the virus. In their home, the basement was filled top to bottom with stacks of water bottles that they had nearly killed a woman over and various canned soups along with other toiletries and any clothes necessary in case of an emergency.

Within a week of them gathering all the supplies they needed they begang boarding up the windows and doors except for the front door which Krolia still needed access to. Everything else in the house was boarded up as if they were preparing for a hurricane, yet they all knew it was for something much worse. Within that week, hundreds of reported new cases had popped up in the Western United States area and the virus was spreading eastward towards where they were, and Keith had a gut feeling that the virus was a whole lot more serious than the government had first implied.

That gut feeling Keith felt led him to store up on knives which he swiped from the mall on their last run there and keep some of Krolia's extra guns and rounds of ammo stored up in case something bad happened. Shiro had stopped going to classes after more than three-quarters of the university population dropped out, putting his final year at college to a halt. Keith too stopped going to school since everyone was leaving and instead preparing at home. The funny thing was that no one knew what they were preparing themselves for, yet they all were wise enough to stay at home in fear of contracting the virus.

Everyone thought they were safe when reports of the virus skyrocketed in nearby towns yet their town remained unaffected. They thought the worst was over and began going about their day once again for two weeks.

Then all hell broke loose on one fateful May afternoon when Keith was sitting at his kitchen table watching the news.

He had felt a buzzing sensation from the pocket of his jacket and quickly fishing his phone out, he saw that it was his mom calling him. His stomach did somersaults as he answered the call, worried because his mom usually never called while on the job.

Almost immediately he regretted answering the call.

Loud moans and snarls were heard in the background while dozens of rounds of gunfire went off in the background. Officers were shouting commands, ordering people out of the building while others were wailing loudly and screaming out of fear. He heard his mom's labored breathing, and precious seconds full of chaos followed before he heard 'retreat!' in the background and the sound of running feet. Still no response from Krolia.

"Mom? Mom! Mom!"

" _Keith, it's not safe...you have to...you're strong...quarantine failed...!_ "

"What? What quarantine? Mom I don't understand; you're cutting out! What's going on?!

" _I'm sorry...I love you....care of Shiro...try...back to you...dead...walking! Move!_ "

The call ended with deadly loud inhuman shrieks and rabid dog-like snarls along with human screams of fear in the background. The phone itself fell to the floor, the noise resounding through the house that suddenly seemed to big and empty. The room then began to spin in front of Keith's eyes and he felt his chest begin to heave up and down wildly, his heart rate increasing and his stomach churning.

Minutes that felt like hours passed with Keith just standing next to the kitchen table, hyperventilating.

"Keith, what's going on?" Shiro asked as he stepped out of his room, worry written all over his features.

Keith only looked at him before making a beeline for the garbage can, promptly puking up his lunch. He felt Shiro hovering beside him, and all he did was step back and look up at him, puke still on his lips and eyes wide.

"Mom...she's...I don't know, I don't...the virus," he managed to say, his voice getting smaller and smaller as the sentence progressed. With a shaky inhale,he gripped onto Shiro's arms tightly. "She said...she said...she said quarantine failed and I...I don't..."

Suddenly piercing screams were heard outside, similar to those Keith had heard over the phone followed by loud groans and moans. Instinctively Keith froze, his heart picking up pace again.

" _Quarantine failed_ ," echoed in his ears and suddenly all his fears that this was more than a simple virus were confirmed. All those months of suspecting, only to be confirmed by the sounds coming from outside the house.

Shiro went pale as he heard the snarls and growls outside of their house followed by cries of pain and anguish that were followed by silence as they were attacked. He quickly rushed towards the keyhole where he could peer outside, eye darting around wildly and growing as he saw what was going on.

"Thace? Regris?" Shiro whispered, hands freezing on the doorknob. "These people...these people are supposed to be dead," he managed to say through a strained voice. "They're...they're the walking dead! They were hiding this from us!"

Suddenly the news flashed on the TV screen, a reporter standing in the middle of the screen while people panicked around her. She looked flustered and frightened, standing too close to the camera.

" _Attention American citizens, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill! The quarantine set up by the Chinese government and quarantine in the United States has failed! I repeat, it has failed. The reports of deaths due to the virus were a lie; these people are dying and coming back to life. The virus is spread through fluid to fluid contact and via bite! I repeat, via bite_!"

" _The undead walk among us now; I repeat, the dead walk among us now! Those non-infected individuals will be left alone to survive as the government has collapsed. It is dangerous in the streets, and we urge all non-infected to avoid the dead at all costs. These walkers are dangerous; remain inside at all costs and if you must go out, be adequately prepared and stay safe. I repeat; stay safe!_ "

The power suddenly went out as soon as the reporter finished speaking, plunging the house into darkness. Keith could only stare numbly at the outline of the TV as Shiro stared at the street filled with the walking dead feeding on those stray souls that had dared to wander outside of their home on that fateful day. May 25th. 

Yeah. Keith absolutely _hated_ the news.


	2. day one-thousand-eight-hundred-twenty-five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years have passed since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse and Keith has gone through many changes since then. He is now a prominent member of the camp he has been residing in for the past three years, and now he will have to go through another change from member to leader of a team due to unfortunate circumstances.

How long had they been walking?

Keith had long forgotten the burning sensation in his calves and thighs, his feet warm in the combat boots he had almost worn down to the sole. He needed to find a new pair soon or else he’d risk getting impaled by stray glass on the soles of his feet and if he developed an infection, well, he was deader than the freaks wandering around town. 

“We’ve been walking for twenty fucking hours and we haven’t found anything,” James spoke up from Keith’s side, tone reeking of irritation. “No good items, no gas; we’re in a dead zone!”

“Will you shut up?” Keith hissed, shooting James a sharp glare. “The last thing we need is you alerting the freaks that we’re here.”

“It’s a dead zone, Keith,” the other man spat back bitterly. “No food, no clothes, no shoes; everything’s been picked clean! I say we turn around and head back to our base.”

Keith only shook his head in annoyance and continued to push forward, eyes darting around to ensure nothing sneaked you on him and his partner. He couldn’t afford to lose James, even if he was annoying. He had a pretty solid aim with a gun although no one beat Ryan. Ryan was possibly the best sniper Keith had known, and he had known many down at the station where his mom used to work. 

“I mean honestly this whole trip isn’t even worth it,” James continued jabbering, kicking stray pieces of garbage out of his way. “I haven’t even found one single stick of gum! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had something good to chew on?”

“Hey, be thankful you have fresh food,” Keith snapped, purple eyes hardening as his gaze landed on James. “Some survivors have to eat out of cans that expired five years ago. We are extremely lucky to have the lake to fish from back at camp.”

“I’m not being ungrateful, I’m just saying that it would be nice to have some gum to chew on,” James replied with a frown. 

Keith only shook his head slightly before turning his gaze in front of him. The path continued on and on, and while it would usually be full of freaks walking around there was not one in sight today. Sure there had been a few wanderers around the town square, but compared to the sheer amounts of freaks one week ago? It was as if some magical force had come in and wiped them off the face of the earth. 

Now Keith supposed he should be thankful for that; after all, with the freaks gone he could walk around without constantly telling James to shut up. But after experiencing the same thing early in after the infection went global, Keith only felt uneasy as he made his way to the front of an apartment building that looked to be locked down. 

“Check it out,” Keith gestured with his head. “The place is closed shut. Maybe the freaks didn’t make it in there.”

“If they’re not in the streets they’re probably in the apartments,” James said, leaning slightly closer to see if he could look inside the lobby. “Huh, I don’t see– woah, okay! We are leaving!” He announced loudly, grimacing. 

James quickly walked away from the entrance, clutching his rifle a bit more tight in his hands. Confused, Keith peered into the glass and had to hold back the urge to puke when he saw random women walking around the lobby in nothing but frayed panties, their clothes long losing their grip on the women’s now sunken hips. It was truly a gruesome sight indeed. Keith understood now why James had walked away so quickly. 

“I’m going to need like fifty baths to get that image out of my mind,” James shuddered as Keith fell back into step with him. 

Keith let out a grunt of acknowledgement, taking a step forward, but before his foot could make contact with the ground he paused. Raising his head up he quickly glanced around, eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

“What is wrong with you now? Do I need to get Ina to do a therapy session with you again?”

“Shut up,” Keith hissed, raising a hand and slapping it across James' mouth. 

The man looked ready to protest until they heard the telltale sound of shuffling feet and snarls bouncing off the walls of the tall building looming above them, coming from every direction. 

Keith and James only looked at each other for a couple of seconds, enough for them to understand what their next course of action was: run. So they both ran in the direction they had come from because they were two men, and what were two men against a whole horde of the undead? Dead, that’s what they were. 

“The van! Get to the van!” Keith practically shouted as they made their way to the outskirts of town, the dead not that far behind. He quickly stabbed one freak that had gotten too close to him in the head with one swift motion before kicking the corpse away and bolting for the van. James ran while trying to look over his shoulder at the same time, rifle gripped tightly in his hands. Neither man yelled at the risk of attracting more but they ran for dear life.

Both he and James climbed in quickly and before the dead could even make it to the outskirts they were out of there in their van, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke in their wake and the dead hungry once again. Neither of the men stopped gripping onto the van dear life until they were well up the mountain side. Keith finally loosened his grip on the steering wheel once they made it up there, James crumbling into his seat from exhaustion. 

“That...that was too close,” Keith managed to say, his tone laced with anger. “Don’t you ever do that again!”

“Me? What did I do?!” James asked incredulously. 

“You were being so ridiculously loud that you made the fucking dead come out of their hiding spots!” Keith spat, glaring at the road in front of him. “If you hadn’t been making your stupid commentary we wouldn’t have had to come back that fast and empty handed! We could’ve raided a couple of more stores!”

“All the stores were picked clean!” James shouted exasperatedly. “You seriously can’t blame me for causing this. We were out there for half the day and found nothing including no freaks so obviously something was already wrong! You know as well as I do that if they’re not in sight they’re either feeding or planning an attack.”

Keith only let out a frustrated grunt and hit his thigh with his fist, eyes focused on the camp site that seemed to be getting closer. “I'm never going out on another scouting trip with you or anyone else ever again. All anyone does is wear me down.”

“Hey you brought this on yourself. If you hadn’t disappeared for whole weeks with no contact during your scouting trips then nobody would have to babysit you, but now we’re all stuck rotating trips with you. You’re not the most fun person to be around, you know.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Keith deadpanned, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Thanks for that well needed explanation, Griffin.”

James stared at him for a couple of seconds before letting out a scoff, sitting back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. “I don’t see why we even bother with you anymore.”

Keith made no effort to reply as he pulled into the parking lot full of old cars that had either been siphoned of all the gas available or had been used as transport for runs. The once dark grey pavement was now covered with dust and dirt from the various survivors stomping around by those who had set up camp around or in it. Half of the parking lot was being used for cars while the other half was used for those stray families who really didn’t want to bother those who covered the lawn. 

Keith wondered about those families sometimes. Were they alright? Did they have enough supplies? Sometimes he wondered if he and Shiro had both made it to the camp after escaping if they would also form part of those families that were off by themselves. Probably not. Shiro was always one to help and not just sit back, even if he was injured or really couldn’t contribute much to anything. That was just who he was. Keith, on the other hand? He was kept around by camp management only because he was fast and resourceful; he could make a bag of supplies meant for two days last two weeks. That and the fact that the captain looked out for him. He was also pretty damn good with hand to hand combat, easing the pain of having to conserve more bullets for the guns. 

He was briefly pulled from his thoughts as he heard James slam the door shut before sauntering off to the food tent where he knew there would be sloppy leftovers from breakfast that day. While most of the campers were off doing their own thing, the leaders were probably either in the RV parked in the lot or wasting time at the few lawn tables in the kitchen tent which was also the tent where all business was discussed. That probably meant that James would rat him and the failure of their mission out. 

Keith only rolled his eyes at that, pulling out a granola bar that he had been conserving over the past few days and nibbled at it slowly while observing the scene in front of him. 

The campsite was inhabited by either various tents or some stray RV’s that belonged to those who were already there when the outbreak happened. The grass had died because of the frequent trampling it faced although the trees seemingly flourished despite sitting through the actual end of the world. Those that hadn’t been chopped down for firewood, that is. Hammocks were tied between the trunks of large pine trees at the end of the perimeter that they had settled on, places for those guarding the site to sit on while keeping watch for any stray zombies. The small beach area that sat between the grass and the lake was littered with children who were building “sandcastles” even though they looked more like mud castles and women wading in the shallow part of the water with clothes. Ah yes, Saturday. Laundry day. 

Most of the men were gone from the camp, declaring every Saturday a day where they would go out to find fresh meat that could last them the week until the next weekend. That meant that most of the crossbows and guns were gone, although there were always enough at hand to protect the camp in the main RV. The teenagers that hadn’t gone off with the adults were either practicing their fighting skills with one another at the far end of the perimeter, and Keith actually let out a ghost of a smile when he saw a girl take a guy down with her bare hands, her friends cheering her one while the guy’s friends handed them sweets with pain-filled faces. He just _knew_ that poor kid was going to get beaten up by his friends later. 

Overall, the day looked pretty peaceful. If you forgot that there were zombies and that it was literally the end of the world it would look like your typical Fourth of July party, except there were zombies and there were no hotdogs or hamburgers or even beer, and there were certainly no fireworks later on. No one would head home and tuck in their children with goodnight kisses before heading off to sleep themselves while the dog slept at the foot of the bed once the day was over. No, this was most likely permanent. After all, if they hadn’t found either a cure or a way to eradicate all the zombies by now then they would never find it. 

Not that he would say that out loud, though. He knew that at least half the people in the camp had the vain hope that there would be a cure and that no one else would get turned but he and everyone else that were involved in scouting knew that was a pipe dream. There was no cure; there was just fighting and surviving, a harsh reality that he had finally accepted after naively believing for the first two years post-infection. He had seen too much to bother to care about a cure. All he wanted to do now was survive to see the next day.

Keith climbed the steps into a small RV parked below some trees, locking the door behind him. The faster he got in and went to sleep the less he would be yelled at by the captain, and he did _not_ want to be yelled at today. He had already heard enough shit from Griffin and he didn’t need another scolding. 

“Oh? You’re back early,” a voice called out from the small table to Keith’s right. “I didn’t expect you to be back until next week.”

Keith shot the man a sharp glare, grip on his knife tightening. “Matt, I swear to god–”

“So what happened?” Matt asked nonchalantly, propping his elbows up on the table and laying his head into his palms. “Wait no, let me guess. Griffin pissed you off so he got eaten ‘on accident’ and you had to come back. Am I right ?”

“No,” Keith said frustratedly as he set his bag down on the small table, the bag making a loud noise. “I did contemplate it more than once, though.”

“Let me guess then. Griffin did something to alert the dead that you were there and then you two had to run five days early out of town.”

Keith frowned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he finally turned his full attention to Matt. “How do you know that?”

Matt only held out a walkie-talkie in response, muted but clearly turned to the channel those who were involved in scouting for supplies and the leaders frequently used. 

At the sight of the object in Matt’s hand Keith immediately flinched, visibly shrinking into himself. The captain always made it a habit to turn the channel on when there was a complaint about his missions, probably to alert everyone to not bother him as she would make sure to take care of him by herself ala-captain mode. He might be twenty-three years old but the captain still terrified him to death when she was angry, specifically with him.

“Captain’s gonna be here in a few seconds so if I were you I’d probably jump out of the window and run for the beach,” Matt said while gesturing at the window above the countertop in the makeshift kitchen. 

“ _Seconds_?!” Keith paled, already scrambling for the kitchen counter.

Before Matt could reply the door to the RV was practically kicked open by a heavy combat boot, making both men jump in place. 

“Keith Kogane!”

Matt and Keith both winced as the captain practically stomped into the RV, shaking the vehicle as she did so. She slammed the door shut behind her before turning around to face the two men staring at her in fear, purple eyes narrowed as she zoned in on Keith who was still sitting awkwardly on the counter. All she had to do was make a gesture with her brows that Keith had grown too accustomed to before he let out a nervous chuckle, raising a fingerless-gloved hand to wave at her.

“Hi...mom.”

Keith loved his mother. He truly did, but when she was standing there in combat boots and black jeans, belt with her radio and one of her many guns attached to her waist she was a force to be reckoned with. Keith noticed how she spotted a checkered shirt that was closed despite the warm Saturday weather, her usual police gear most likely drying on a rock somewhere. She was normally not menacing and was soft when it came down to Keith but when she was mad she was downright scary. Standing at five-foot-ten everyone feared her, but Keith usually didn’t...not until he was the one being shouted at by her. 

“Keith, this is the fifth time alone this week that I’ve gotten complaints from various campers that you’ve been going rogue. First you teach the youngest children how to shoot a gun, then you go for a swim in the water outside the perimeter we set up, and you don’t stop there! Then you almost nail Francis in the head with your knife in the woods, and now I found out that you booked it out of the city without any supplies and lured a horde after you. What is going on with you?!” Krolia exclaimed impatiently, placing her arms on her hips.

Keith narrowed his eyes, Matt mumbling a small ‘uh-oh’ behind him. “First of all the gun problem wasn’t even that bad! I taught a twelve year old to shoot because his dad refuses to shoot any freak he sees! The guy is delusional and thinks they’re still humans; I mean, even the kid knows better! _He_ asked me to teach him.”

“Why would he ask you? You’re the worst shot in camp,” Matt said in surprise, only to be shut up by twin glares from Krolia and Keith. “Fine. I’ll shut up now.”

“Keith, just because a child asks you to teach him something does not mean you need to teach him. _Especially_ not if his family doesn’t want to associate themselves with guns. That’s why we have the gunners to do that for those who don’t want to!”

“That’s so stupid!” Keith shouted, throwing his hands up exasperatedly in the air. “The kid has good aim too! If he wants to learn he should be able to learn with or without parental consent. We can’t just baby the kids and let them swim in the water all day!”

“Keith, just because you learned how to shoot at thirteen down at the station does not mean that others are obligated to do the same as you,” Krolia inhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You’re getting mad at me for no reason! I mean swimming? Seriously? The idiots who never learned how to swim were probably the ones who raised a complaint!”

“You know the dead can swim, Keith,” Krolia growled, eyes narrowed into slits. “The people who gave me a complaint about that were worried that you were either going to draw a freak back or get bitten by one yourself. People don’t want to see you die because you decide that you want to mess around and be a daredevil, believe it or not.”

“Oh, and the Francis thing? He should be thanking me! I saved him from a freak that was about to sink its teeth into his shoulder! And the Griffin thing was _not_ my fault. You know that I know that area like the back of my hand and always come back with good supplies when I’m alone but all of a sudden I’m paired with Griffin who never shuts up and lures the dead out and the fault is mine? Clearly you’re not looking at the equation clearly.”

“You’re telling me Griffin was lying?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Krolia only stared at her son with a fixed glare. Keith returned the look, although his failed to look as threatening because he was still sitting on the countertop. This went on for two minutes or so until Krolia raised her eyebrows expectantly, making Keith inhale sharply before exhaling loudly, his shoulders sagging and his facade crumbling. 

“I’m sorry, mom. It won’t happen again.”

Krolia nodded. “Thank you, Keith.”

“Wow. Twenty-three and he can’t hold his ground,” Matt said with a grin. “So sad! Boy, when I was _eighteen_ I was finally arguing with my mom whenever she said stuff I didn’t agree on.”

“Yet you couldn’t do that with your commanding officer, could you,” Krolia deadpanned as she shifted her attention to Matt. 

Matt chuckled sheepishly and shrugged, flashing Krolia a toothy grin. “You are very scary and I was a rookie on the team so yeah, I wasn’t about to go arguing with you. Very uh...muscular. I was afraid you’d punch me all the way to Mars.”.”

Keith let out a small snort, crossing his legs on the countertop now that he knew he didn’t have to leap out the window. “Yeah, she has more muscles and force than you’ll ever have. How did you make it through the first two years of the apocalypse without us?”

“My sister was uh, the brains in our small group we had formed before,” Matt replied with a crooked smile. “She planned out strategies to help us find more food and helped us avoid a lot of potential run-ins with hordes. I guess I relied on her a lot to stay alive.”

Keith didn’t miss the flash of sadness in Matt’s eyes at the mention of his sister, an entirely too-familiar feeling tugging at him. One look at his mom and he could tell the same thought was going through her mind as well: _Shiro_. He had been the one to help Keith survive the first two years of the apocalypse before they were captured by rogues and separated once they escaped. Keith had spent a week wandering alone and was eventually saved by Matt who had been in charge of the scouting group back then. 

Matt was twenty-two when that happened, skinny yet somehow still toned to a certain degree. He was great with handheld weapons and was an expert in setting traps which was how Keith was saved. Matt had saved him from being eaten after he had gotten trapped in a corner by jumping down from the roof, immediately slamming zombies with a bat in one hand and a knife in the other. Of course one Keith had some space to move freely he had helped with the zombies and in the process impressed Matt who had decided to bring him back to camp with him. 

Keith would never forget how weirdly Matt had looked at him once he lowered the bandana he had been using to conceal the bottom half of his face, pulling it down to his neck. He remembered asking what he was staring at before Matt had shaken his head and told him ‘you remind me of someone I know’ and left it at that. It wasn’t until they were at the camp that he realized why Matt had said that because standing right next to the RV that Keith recognized as the one they had purchased for a camping trip when he was thirteen was his mom, who looked exactly how he had remembered her, down to the beauty spots on her cheeks and slight scar above her eye. 

He remembered how she had gotten straight to business with Matt, discussing what the group had found when Matt subtly had told her that they had brought back another survivor. Naturally Krolia had told him to introduce her to the survivor, and politeness turned to outright sobs when she spotted him stepping out of the car. He remembered how when he had seen her his heart stopped for a moment and he swore he was hallucinating before she lunged forward and hugged him tightly. He remembered crying for most of the night after that as she sat beside him in the RV bed, telling him what had happened as he told her what had happened with Shiro. 

Keith was over the moon since he had found his mother, but when he later saw how Matt would only gaze at him and Krolia together with a faraway look before returning to whatever it was he was doing her grew curious and asked Matt why he did it. He then found out that Matt’s mother had been one of the doctors in the hospital who had tried to control the sudden appearance of virus victims before quarantine eventually failed and everyone had to escape. Like Keith, the last Matt ever heard from his mom was through a phone message as she ran out of the hospital with other staff, everyone herded into a helicopter before the call cut off. His dad wasn’t home at the time either because he was out on a business meeting, leaving him and his sister alone to deal with the mess. He hadn’t heard anything from him either. 

Matt had spent two years on the road with his sister before the two were separated from one another after they miscalculated a run. He had spent two weeks wandering alone before Krolia found him and offered him a place to stay along with the promise that they could look for his sister later on. Of course when they’d searched she was long gone, although Matt found a piece of paper with Pidge’s signature stuck to the window of a convenience store, leading him to believe that his sister was somewhere out there. He never gave up hope that he would find her, but talking about it was just something he didn’t do.

Just like Keith. 

“Well that certainly explains why you burned out as early as you did,” Krolia attempted to joke, a small smile on her face. 

Matt let out a small snort, smiling up at Krolia while shaking his head. “Okay first of all I decided to retire from scout missions because Keith was faster than me and actually made supplies last. Also, he actually knew how to slip in and out untouched both by the dead and the rogues. He was a better scout than I ever could’ve hoped to be.”

“It’s probably because my mom took me apocalypse training when I was eight,” Keith suggested with a shrug. 

“Those were great times,” Krolia replied with almost a wistful smile. 

Silence fell among the trio for a couple of seconds until there was a heavy knock at the door, startling them. Krolia opened the door without a second thought after a few seconds, already recognizing who it was from the knock.

“Kolivan. What happened?” 

“We need to discuss sending another scouting team out,” the man said in a gruff tone. “We need all three of you to come down to the main tent. Most of the other scouting team members have already gathered there.”

Krolia nodded, pale lips curling into a small smile. “We’ll be right there. Thank you, Kolivan.”

Kolivan only nodded before heading back to the tent. Krolia watched him walk away for a couple of seconds before turning back to Matt and Keith, her smile long gone and replaced by her usual neutral face. 

“Alright, you heard him. We’re needed at the conference hall right now.”

She made her way out of the RV without the two men, leaving them to look at one another before eventually following after Krolia. Both of them wanted to say something about the interaction between Krolia and Kolivan but decided against it. Everyone pretty much knew she had a soft spot for him since he had been her partner down at the station, but if the feeling was returned Kolivan sure didn’t show it. 

Keith wasn’t sure he really liked that part, but the prospect of his mom finally being happy after losing her husband all those years ago made him happy. He just wished Kolivan would notice it and stop being dense, but Keith understood. In the apocalypse it was hard to accept love because the world had a nasty habit of taking things away from everyone, especially those things that you loved. So yeah, Keith understood in a way. 

As he and Matt made their way into the main tent they heard voices filtering out, including thhe voice of a certain James Griffin. Keith immediately bit down on his tongue to avoid letting out a noise of displeasure snd Matt only patted his shoulder in almost a reassuring type of way. The two remained at the entrance to the tent, trying to listen in. 

“I’m telling you he has a mind of his own. If it were me I’d boot him out of camp,” James said harshly, others muttering their agreement with him. 

“You’re being too harsh on him. I mean, I’ve done scouting with you and you are way too loud,” Nadia responded. 

“And? You like it when I’m loud!”

A loud smack was heard, making Matt and even Keith wince. They heard the older men sigh, clearly tired of putting up with the antics of the younger generation while the younger ones applauded Nadia for slapping James who had clearly crossed lines that shouldn’t have been crossed. She wasn’t going to talk to him for at least three weeks.

“Rizavi slap Griffin again?” Krolia said bemusedly from behind Matt and Keith. “What a great way to start off a meeting. Keith, Matt. You two walk in first and I’ll go behind you.”

“Like a grand entrance,” Matt said with a grin. “I like it!”

“But you’re captain. If anyone should walk in first it should be you,” Keith said in confusion. 

“Keith, just walk.” 

Keith only sent her a small pout before finally moving out from the protection of the outside of the tent into the actual tent with Matt, both men shoulder to shoulder with one another. 

Almost immediately the chatter died down, eyes flickering over to the duo who radiated pure seriousness and perfection. Perfect scouts that had made it through every mission and had a streak for bringing back the most goods for the camp. Some hated them, mostly those who wanted to boot Keith out of camp for being reckless and then there were those who idolized them. Others simply didn’t care for their existence and only knew them as the Captain’s son and trusted friend. Whatever it was, they were well known at camp. 

That didn’t mean Keith necessarily enjoyed it. 

As soon as they reached their respective seats everyone stood up to greet Krolia as a sign of respect as she walked in, boots crunching the dry grass under steps. She wore the same expression Keith and Matt did, yet somehow made it more frightening than either of the men could ever do. She may not have been dressed in her police uniform but everyone could tell she was captain.

She took a seat next to Keith, everyone else finally sitting down as she did so. With one nod at Kolivan he rose, face unreadable. 

“We have gathered here today to speak about the shortage of supplies. The past scouting missions have been largely unsuccessful with the claim being that every local store we have on our map has been stripped down completely. We have been told that our supplies are running out, including ammunition and food. If we do not bring back any supplies we will have no supplies and will be forced to leave the camp.”

Krolia nodded. “Alright. I assume that if you’ve called me down here then you have a solution to this?”

“Yes,” James stood up, “we do.”

Krolia raised a brow, glancing quickly at Kolivan before turning her attention back to James. 

“Go on.”

“We’ve all decided that since all the stores closest to us have been looted, we need to expand where we look for food which would mean traveling farther out and more than weeklong missions.”

“Which would also mean more use of gas that we don’t have,” Keith quipped back, cutting Krolia off as she was about to speak. “We barely siphoned enough gas on this past mission to last us one round trip to a store maybe thirty minutes away. What makes you believe that we’ll have enough to expand our borders?”

“We need to expand our borders because we’re finding nothing! “

“No, there are a few things that we could’ve brought back from town if you hadn’t jeapordized the run!”

“You did that yourself!”

“You were being ridiculously loud for someone wandering around during the middle of the zombie apocalypse,” Keith retorted, bristling with anger. “I made a choice to leave because a whole horde was chasing after us but if you want to play the victim and blame the failure of the run on me then that is your problem. I made the right call.”

“Oh I call bullshit–”

“Both of you stop talking,” Krolia said with a piercing glare. “I know how you are on missions, Griffin; you never shut up when told and every person who has gone on a mission has complained about you. They even suggested we put a muzzle on your face too, once. Keith here has led the most successful missions and has brought every single person in his group back alive. I know he would not purposely return without food unless there really was a shortage.”

She nodded with her chin at Nadia and Ina, both girls sitting upright in their chairs. “You two have also been some of the most successful scouts during your five years here. Nadia, you are resourceful and Ina, you amaze me with your ability to successfully plan out missions and routes. You two have gone on missions together and have come back with many goods. Do you agree with the proposal made?”

Nadia glanced at Ina, motioning for her to speak. Ina briefly glanced at her before pulling out a notebook from behind her, flipping it open to a page.

“Day one-thousand-eight-hundred-fifteen: Every store on course was empty. Stole gas from a car. Killed twenty zombies. Saw foreign smoke before screams and silence. Hit three bitten people. We then traveled to the interior of the city. Used wild deer found in woods as a distraction. Snuck into convenience stores inside the city; escaped with nothing. Two day mission was a failure.”

Nadia nodded and thanked Ina before looking back at Krolia worriedly. “There’s nothing in town anymore and I get that all the dead are gathered in the city, but patience and properly trained runners can make it in and out with supplies if given more days to stay out.”

“The city is dangerous,” Matt said with a frown. “The longest I lasted when I was there without almost getting bit was three days. Then when I escaped I almost lost my foot because I got cut with a rusty piece of stray metal which is why I never went back without the captain. Z’s aren’t the only dangerous things out there you know. ”

“Yeah, but that was because you were alone. Everybody knows there’s safety in groups and if we want to make it out there in the city we need the best people on this team to go. We would go on missions to the city maybe once a month and we’d spend at least two weeks looking for supplies.”

“I like that plan,” Keith said with a nod of approval. “It beats having to go back out every four days when there’s nothing but the dead left in our safety zone. If we stayed longer in a large group we’d have more protection and would probably make it all back.”

“We would start from the apartments near the entrance of the city and work our way into the center of the city over time,” Ryan said with his usual stoic tone. 

“Two runners make a trip back to the base with supplies,” Griffin said with a sharp glare directed at Keith. “If we stay for two weeks there needs to be at least one weeekly trip back to camp.”

Keith rolled his eyes in response. “ _Whatever_.”

“We could bring back actual medicine from a hospital or something,” Nadia said excitedly, ignoring the boys and clapping her hands together. “Oh, I’d finally get to put my high school nursing knowledge to good use!”

“Then it’s settled,” Krolia said with a nod. “Kinkade, Griffin, Leif and Rizavi will all head into the city with Kogane as their leader tomorrow morning at the first crack of dawn. They will plan today what supplies they need to take and we will make sure to give them a pickup truck to ensure they can bring back whatever goods they find. They will be given proper ammunition and will be given today off to rest for their journey tomorrow. Any questions?”

When no one said anything Krolia stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. “Then this meeting has ended. If anyone needs me I’ll be patrolling the area later tonight.”

Everyone began walking out of the tent, all mumbling amongst one another. Those older runners who hadn’t been chosen were talking pure trash about the new group of young runners while the younger ones were trying to convince those who were doing the actual run that they could successfully go in and come back out. Nadia, Ina and Ryan were talking amongst themselves about what supplies they would have to bring while James grumbled about Keith being the leader of the team. 

Unbeknownst to him, Keith was also doing the same thing inside the tent.

“This just isn’t fair! Shouldn’t _I_ get a say on whether I want to lead or not?”

“Keith, you are a grown man,” Krolia said with a dull look. “You know better than question your captain who just so happens to also be your mother.”

“I don’t understand why you put me as the leader,” Keith said angrily as he looked up at his mother. “I don’t know anything about being a leader and you know it! I’m good at getting in and out of the city which I have done for the past year until you sent other to babysit me–”

Krolia’s eyes widened, her eyes immediately snapping down to stare at Keith. “You’ve been making runs to the city without a group for a _whole year_?”

“How do you think I always came back with more supplies?” Keith asked exasperatedly. “Everything was picked clean a year ago in all our regular spots and since I was the one doing the most runs nobody knew because I always came back with goods. In fact, when you started sending other runners out they asked me where I got the goods when I made my runs. Nadia and Ina both came to me for advice and I told them about the city! The only person who hasn’t been smart enough to realize the city’s potential is James and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of being right that the town is empty of any good supplies.”

“Keith Kogane, I am extremely disappointed that you failed to tell me this earlier. Do you know how stupid heading into the city by yourself is?”

“It’s not stupid if I know what I’m doing,” Keith retorted angrily, fists clenched tightly at his sides. “I’m not an eighteen year old, mom! I know the risks and I take them anyways because risks are what keep us alive now. Shiro–”

“Don’t mention Shiro to me when I am yelling at you about your decisions!” Krolia shot back, voice slightly trembling. “Shiro was not as reckless as you! I didn’t see him in action but I know that he didn’t go into cities alone, he didn’t take risks, and he didn’t throw himself into the wolves just so he could be reckless and get yhimself turned into one of the walking dead!”

Keith’s eyes widened at how her whole body shook, practically vibrating with anger. Then she took a seat and cradled her head in her hands, shaking it from side to side while inhaling and exhaling shakily. He looked at Matt for help, but the older man only cast Krolia a pitiful look before himself taking a seat in the chair he had been sitting in previously, staring at Keith expectantly.

Then Keith remembered what day it was and he suddenly felt guilty for making his mom remember Shiro. Today was the fifth anniversary of when their city had gotten overrun by the dead which was also the last day Krolia ever saw Shiro. She hadn’t seen him or heard his voice for five years, making Keith sick to his stomach for ever yelling at his mom who most likely wanted the best for him even though he was an adult already.

“Mom...I’m sorry.”

“I don’t...I need you to stop taking all these risks,” Krolia inhaled sharply, looking up at Keith. “Promise me that you’ll do your best as a leader. Promise me...promise me you’ll listen and plan. Promise me…”

Keith took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I promise I’ll come back.”

Krolia only nodded and let out a loud exhale before getting back up, brushing stray strands of hair out of her face. She then walked out of the tent, leaving Keith and Matt to watch after her.

“You lied again.”

Keith lowered his gaze to his shoes, gripping on tightly to Shiro’s silver watch with its little hand permanently stuck on three and the large hand stuck on the five that had sat in his jean pocket for the past two years.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! Feedback is greatly appreciated. <3


	3. behind the city walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and his team depart for the city, but what they find inside is something that will shake them to the core and change their lives forever.

They departed as soon as the sun was visible over the peaks of the mountains that surrounded them, the few birds that were still around chirping to announce the dawn of a new day. 

The team of five piled all their supplies into a rusty red pickup truck that had been stationed in the parking lot since the apocalypse had begun. Backpacks full of extra bullets and food to last then at most two weeks were piled in the front while extra cans of water were secured tightly to the back of the truck. Extra guns were packed in the back as well, tied down safely to the sides to ensure that they wouldn’t go flying. As an extra precaution, Ryan hopped in the back and made himself comfortable with a rifle in hand and a pack full of bullets at his side. The rest of the group piled into the front of the car, Keith taking the position as driver while Nadia sat next to him in the passenger side with a map in her hand. James and Ina piled into the backseat although there were no seats, having been ripped out to make a makeshift bed for the family who the car had belonged to earlier on before they all ultimately had to be put down after being infected. 

There was no one up that morning except for Krolia, Kolivan, Matt and a few others who stood at the side of the car with grim expressions. They were clearly still not on board with the whole ‘traveling in the city’ plan but still came out to see the five off. Probably felt like it would calm down the group if they saw that they had support. 

To Keith it was just more nerve wracking. 

They quickly said their goodbyes with reassurances that they would be back with supplies within a week or two, Keith still hesitant about taking so much ammunition when there was still the possibility that the dead could stumble into a camp. Krolia only looked at him with tired purple eyes and said quite bluntly, “we’re in the mountains, Keith.” The mountains, where zombies rarely showed up and they hadn’t had more than ten at camp that month. Yeah, he knew they’d be okay. 

Once the goodbyes were done, the group was off on their own, barreling down the dirt trail that led them down the mountain and into the highway that would lead them to the city. The last thing they saw of their camp was the trees and the bridge that separated the mountains and the highway, the booth at the side permanently drawn up. 

They passed neighboring towns, the previous resources for the camp now empty except for the shuffling of the undead that still roamed the area, too stupid to keep moving on to find more food. The ride itself was quiet except for Ryan’s stray shot at a random zombie that popped up on the road heading in the direction where their camp was. The rest was relatively peaceful, something that struck Keith as odd because he and James had a whole mob at their tails yesterday. He decided not to say anything, however, and instead continued driving as Nadia guided him to where the best place to stay was. That safe place ended up being a two-story house on the outskirts of the city, far enough for them to run to if something went wrong yet close enough to bring back whatever supplies they needed. 

The group of five arrived a little over twelve in the afternoon, pulling the car into the garage that had been hastily closed by the last inhabitants of the house. They immediately scoped out the house to ensure that there weren’t any other survivors or any zombies, all bunched up together to ensure not one angle was left uncovered. After ensuring that the house was empty they quickly unloaded their belongings, rolling cans sealed shut with water inside the house and sealing the garage door with code to ensure no human trespasser could take their ride. 

Everyone claimed a room to themselves, the house giving them the most privacy they had since the apocalypse began. Keith took the living room which happened to be the closest to the exit, citing the need to ensure that they were safe at all times. Ryan and James took the rooms of what appeared to be the rooms of two twins, one male and one female. Nadia and Ina took the rooms across from them, the master and what they assumed was the guest room. They knew they would probably never all stay in their respective rooms since they all tended to stay close together, but it was nice to finally have a private space to themselves if they truly wanted to be alone. 

The first day was spent planning what teams would go in together as a pair, the list made to ensure that at least two people would stay back to protect the house in case someone decided to try and take it over. A plan was set out for a week at minimum, with each pair spending a day clearing one section of the city while the second pair would go in the next day to clear the next section, and so forth. The rest of the day was spent training or lounging about, preparing themselves mentally and physically for the next day. 

Nightfall eventually came once again, forcing Keith to keep guard that night before eventually switching off with Ryan. It came and went quickly with the sun rising too early over the horizon. Then it was time to leave the safety of their base once more, this time Keith and Nadia taking the first run into the city. That was when the beginning of what was going to be one of the worst —and eventually, best— days of his life began. 

“Alright, I’m ready,” Nadia said, descending the stairs at a rapid pace with her bag on her shoulders and guns strapped to her waist. She quickly landed on the bottom and proceeded to walk into the living room, coming face to face with Keith. 

Keith looked down at her with a small smile, sliding the knife he had been cleaning off into the belt at his waist. He quickly grabbed his bag off the couch and put it on, the bag not too light and not too heavy to avoid having to leave it behind in case something went awry. 

“Ready?”

“Psh. I’m always ready,” Nadia said with a smirk, purring her hands on her hips. “The question is, are you?”

“I’ve been ready since my mom prepared me for the apocalypse at eight.”

Nadia let out a snort before flashing him a bright grin. “You’re funny, Keith.” She cast a gaze outside of the window, watching as James practiced hitting the air with a bat. A small blush creeped up on her face before it vanished, her gaze returning back to Keith. “Well I guess we should go then. Are we ready?”

Keith only nodded and flashed her a small smile. “Yeah, we do. Let’s head out.”

As they walked out of the house and Nadia quickly jogged over to Ina to say a quick goodbye, Keith noticed how James almost hit himself with the bat after staring at Nadia. Now, Keith wasn’t dumb. He knew when things were going on, and he knew James had a thing for Nadia since the day he arrived at camp and saw her take out five dead heads at the age of nineteen. But of course since he was an idiot, when it came down to flirting he somehow always found a way to offend her when he spoke. Keith always thought she didn’t return his affection, but upon catching her lingering glances at James he could say he was probably wrong.

“Nadia,” he called out with a small frown, “let’s go.”

She quickly hugged Ina and Ryan before moving on to James, only giving him an awkward hug before heading over to Keith. The two waved the team goodbye before looking at each other and nodding, stepping off the property and into the middle of the road to begin their journey to the city. 

Within thirty minutes they reached the city, the putrid smell of rotting flesh hitting their nostrils quickly. The two visibly recoiled at the smell, resisting the urge to puke. Both had smelled rotting flesh before but it was never this strong. It was enough to make Keith think about going back but upon remembering his mom’s words about being a good team leader he pushed on, only motioning for Nadia to hold her bandana up around her nose to try and prevent smelling the rotting flesh. 

Nadia quickly did it and then motioned for the entrance. Keith quickly picked up on what she was saying and they both raised their weapons at the same time, Nadia with two guns and Keith with his two knives in front of him. 

“Go!” 

They quickly stormed over the barricade in front of the entrance to the city, standing back to back with weapons still outstretched, prepared to fight a whole horde of the dead. 

Instead, they were met with something else worse than a horde. 

Piles upon piles of dead bodies were stacked on one another, standing at maybe fifty deadheads in each of what seemed to be at _least_ ten different piles next to various fast food chains. There was blood all over the place seeping out of the dead, the stench heavier than it had ever been. Heads were removed from bodies, bullets clearly there lodged into their brains. There were also remnants of heads, smashed brains with teeth left to rot on the ground. The freaks were all dead, a sight that should’ve been welcome but only served to make Nadia and Keith sick to their stomachs. 

With a swift move Nadia turned to the side and pulled off her bandana, only to loudly throw up on the side of the road, bits of granola mixed in water floating on top of the blood already present. She kept her head bowed down, knees almost buckling as she bent down to avoid falling to the ground all of a sudden. 

Keith couldn’t hold in the urge to throw up either and threw up right on top of the head of one of the dead, their empty eye socket filling up with the vomit. He tried to calm himself down by breathing through his nose, not trusting himself to talk or even breathe out of his mouth. He had seen many atrocities during the past five years but seeing so many bodies of the dead piled up took the cake. 

“They’re...oh my god…” Nadia said with a paled face, chest heaving up and down heavily. She tucked her stray strands for side hair behind her ears, eyes wide as she stared at the piled. “I’m going to hurl again…”

“Please don’t,” Keith said, his face slightly green as he stared at the dead bodies. 

“Where did they come from?” She asked breathlessly, staring at the corpses with wide eyes. “Oh god. Are there rogues in the city? I thought they were just in the town!”

“I don’t know if they’re rogues but whatever they are, we can’t stay too long out in the open,” Keith said in a hushed tone, quickly glancing around with wild eyes. “Whoever did this might still be around so we need to proceed with caution now, okay? We stick together from now on.”

“I like that plan,” Nadia said quickly before stepping over a pool of blood, shivering when a part of her heel touched it. She fell in step with Keith and the two kept walking deeper into the city, weapons still at hand in case a straggler came out. 

It turned out that wasn’t necessary, however, as they soon came to realize when they reached the edge of the perimeter they were supposed to clear off and no zombie was in sight. The entire downtown area instead was completely cleared out, remnants of burnt piles of bodies in some streets and bullets littering the ground. Scorch marks were clearly visible on the sides of buildings, windows and doors shattered in various apartment buildings and stores. Random bits of clothing were attached to the glass, a few objects strewn about in the street. 

One particular object caught Keith’s eye in the middle of the sidewalk, strewn about casually with the piles of bodies a few feet away from it. He quickly moved towards it, glass crunching under his boots much to his chagrin. 

He squatted down as he reached out for the object, taking it in his hands and brushing his thumb across the plush doll material. The doll had brown hair tied off in a side ponytail with a bow sewn on to the top of her head. Her pink dress was torn in every direction imaginable, revealing the white under it. Her left arm was also missing, the right one tattered but still attached. She was smiling, eyes red and cheeks rosy under all the dust and other trample marks that covered her tan skin, killing any innocence that the doll had once signified for its owner. 

“A doll?” Nadia asked as she approached Keith, squatting down next to him. She then shifted her attention to the burnt bodies, eyes widening at the amount of bodies piled up. Resisting the urge to throw up again she turned her attention back to Keith, visibly willing herself to think about the doll and nothing else. 

“Yeah,” Keith replied, completely missing Nadia’s reaction to the bodies. “It doesn’t look like it’s been here long, though.”

Nadia furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

“If the doll had been here when all the zombies were walking around then it would look worse than it already does,” Keith explained, turning the doll over to examine the back. “Also the back isn’t stained with blood even though it’s literally all over the place, but the front is with dirt.”

“So are you saying that someone passed through here after the geeks were killed and dropped the doll?”

“Exactly.”

Nadia let out a small sigh, standing back up. “I don’t like this, Keith. The downtown area is ghosted with no dead and from the looks of it, so is uptown. This city is literally clean, and it’s…”

“Suspicious,” Keith finished for her. He stood up as well, quickly stuffing the doll into the side pocket of his bag. “I know. I was down here two weeks ago and I almost got bit but now there’s no one here. Something isn’t adding up.”

“We need to get whatever we can and leave,” Nadia urged, gesturing towards the nearest store to her right that had all its windows blown out. 

Keith nodded, pulling his knives out of their sheathes. “We stay here an hour at most and take whatever we can and leave. No lingering. Got it?”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Nadia mumbled, adjusting the baseball cap on her head. 

“The pharmacy on the corner first,” Keith said in a hushed tone. “We need medicine before anything else. There’s basically none at camp anymore.”

“Finally I can put my skills to good use,” Nadia said with a sigh of relief as the two quickly sprinted across the street to the pharmacy, the doors open and no lights on. 

Keith walked in first, Nadia behind him with a gun to make sure nothing sneaked up on them if there were any stray zombies still around. The lights remained off as they passed the motion sensor that automatically turned them off, no sounds alerting the store that they had walked in. 

A quick look around told them that there was no one in the pharmacy, and the two quietly agreed to split off. Keith took the front of the store while Nadia went to the back where the actual medicine was kept. They then split quickly with the promise to shout if there was any danger and to meet back at the front of the store once they were done. 

As Nadia made her way to the back Keith quickly looked around his part of the pharmacy once again, ensuring that no one —either living or dead— was hiding in the aisles. He was reassured when no one jumped out at him, and he quickly began to raid the shelves and stuffed as much as he could into the bag that was empty except for his small rations and the doll. 

One look at the first aisle left Keith rolling his eyes, various shades of color in the makeup palettes muting over time and random scratches in the mirror that Keith soon realized were bite marks, not scratches. The makeup aisle was one he frequented with his mom pre-apocalypse, and he would always give her the best advice on what he could but he was useless with anything except eyeliner. Something bothered him though, and he then remembered his mom’s birthday was in a couple of months. 

Quickly making sure that Nadia wasn’t around, he reached out for three dark red lipstick tubes, two mascara tubes and a black eyeliner tube. He stuffed all of them into the front pocket of his bag, hiding it away from what his main stash would be. 

“I sure hope no one looks at the front pocket,” he murmured to himself before putting his bag back on his back. 

Satisfied with his findings in the makeup aisle he moved on to the next aisle, immediately sighing in relief when he spotted various shampoo bottles and hair accessories. He quickly pulled random bottles of shampoo and grabbed handfuls of hair ties and scrunchies alike, headbands and barrettes for the children. This was a serious mission, but he couldn’t help but indulge the children. 

“God knows they deserve it,” he said to himself, glancing at the hair brushes before stuffing them into his bag as well. 

The next aisle provided him with loads of candy that he hadn’t seen since the apocalypse began, and although he had a severe sweet tooth he only grabbed a few chocolates and hard candies that he tried to make sure they weren’t too expired. The chocolates were mostly melted except for the M&M’s he found, and he counted that as a win. 

The same went for the snack aisle he stumbled upon next, shelves full of stale chips and cookies that tasted weird but didn’t cause any damage. He stuck whatever he could into his bag until it was full to the top, forcing him to stop his spree. He had enough treats to last the camp a good two weeks until they had to make another run. 

“I can’t believe you,” Nadia said in disbelief when she met up with him at the front entrance an hour later, catching him popping a piece of gum into his mouth. “Did you really just get sweets?”

“They’re just as important as the medicine you brought back,” Keith said with a small shrug, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of the cash register he had opened. 

“Your prioritizing is out of this world,” Nadia said bemusedly, leaning over the counter. “Ooh, money! Think it’s worth anything?”

“Doubt it, but take it if you want,” Keith replied, taking the money out of the cash register. “If we somehow manage to get out of his shit hole apocalypse we might be able to start a whole economy again. This could be useful.”

“You’re a genius, Keith.”

Keith flashed her a small smile before glancing at her bag, brows raising in surprise as he spotted a small keychain attached to the zipper. 

“I see you found something useful.”

“Oh hell yeah,” she replied with a quick grin. “I found tons of medicine. Albuterol, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, codeine, lidocaine–”

“Lidocaine?” Keith furrowed his brows in confusion. “Isn’t that only used for surgery?”

“We never know when we might need to do an amputation out here, Keith. Better to be prepared in case we ever need it.”

Keith only nodded before glaring distastefully at the broken doors. 

“If these doors weren’t busted we could easily hide out here for a couple of days with quick runs back. We need to bring the car tomorrow.”

“You saw the water in the back too, didn’t you?” Nadia said with wide eyes. 

“And a bunch of other things,” Keith confirmed with a nod. “We need the car to bring stuff in and out and now that we know that it’s a ghost city it’ll be easier to do that.”

“I hate this ghost city. If I didn’t have to come back I wouldn’t, even if it does have everything I haven’t seen since the world went down the drain,” Nadia mumbled dejectedly, kicking a piece of crumpled up piece of paper across the floor. 

“Yeah,” Keith sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair, “I wouldn’t come back either.”

“The pharmacy’s right there!” A hushed voice called out from outside the store, the voice bouncing off the buildings around it. 

Nadia and Keith froze in place, one common thought in their brains: rouges. 

“Hide,” Keith hissed and Nadia obeyed, hiding under the cashier counter with Keith hot at her heels. 

The two squished into the small space, knees up to their chests and arms tucked in carefully. Nadia held her guns tightly at her side while Keith held on tightly to one of his knives, ready to attack anyone who tried to attack him. Of course it was awkward, but the one thought on both of their minds was to escape unscathed and with their supplies. 

Footsteps crunched over the glass at the entrance, announcing the presence of at least four people. 

“Hunk, you take medicine. Pidge, you’re in charge of bandages and whatever there is to heal wounds. I’ll take the snacks and water. Clear?” A cold tone spoke up, crystal clear and menacing. 

Keith assumed everyone had agreed when the sound of footsteps headed in the opposite direction of the entrance. Making sure that no one was around by looking under the counter at the reflections cast on the tiles, he adjusted himself slowly.

“What are you doing?!” Nadia hissed in a panicked tone, reaching out to grab his arm tightly. “They could be out there!”

“We need to leave as quickly as possible,” Keith said back in a hushed tone, placing a gloved finger up to his lips. “Quietly move out after I move.”

Not waiting for a response he moved out, crawling on the ground before standing up, knives held out defensively in front of him with an iron grip around the handles. Seeing no one in the aisles at the front he knelt back down to the ground, nodding quickly at his partner. 

“Nadia, let’s go–”

The cool feeling of the tip of a rifle made itself at home at the back of Keith’s neck, the sound of a finger being placed on the trigger crystal clear in his ears. A small shudder escaped his lips as his eyes stared at Nadia, cold and unreadable as hers went wide and she held her hands tightly around her left gun holster. 

“Not another step, mullet.”

Keith slowly stood up, arms held out in front of him with his knives still in his hands. The tip of the rifle never left his neck, the threat of possible death hanging heavily on Keith’s head as he mentally cursed out his mother for leaving him in charge of the runs. 

Stupid, stupid _stupid_. What had he been thinking about not doing a full check around him? That was the number two rule about survival in the apocalypse: always check all your sides. Now he was going to most likely die if he didn’t get the rifle out of this guy’s hands, and not only him but also Nadia. God, how was he so stupid? He had done runs with others before. He knew the dangers and forgot a basic rule that was probably going to cost him his life and someone else’s, just like it had cost him Shiro. 

It was like the retelling of a bad story. 

“Turn around.”

Keith slowly turned around, head held high and eyes still cold and unreadable. His eyes quickly shifted to observe his surroundings as he moved, staring at everything from the shelves to the tiles to the lights barely hanging on by a thread and finally, the face of the man. 

In the dim lights Keith could make out a defined pointed chin and a long nose that slightly pointed upwards at the end. He could make out brown hair on his head with some falling in his eyes, the man clearly in need of a haircut. He couldn’t make out anything else, however, because before he knew it the tip of the rifle had made its way from the back of his head to his chest right over his heart. 

“Who are you?” Keith asked, voice steady. 

The man let out a small scoff. “I should be the one asking you that, don’t you think?”

“Are you a rogue?”

“Would you be scared if I was?” 

Keith brought one hand up with a knife, holding it in the man’s face. His features hardened, lips pressed thin together. 

“No.”

The man glanced at the knife and then to Keith’s face, the rifle never leaving Keith’s chest. 

“Fair enough. What are you doing in Zone One?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie,” the man hissed, pressing the tip of the rifle a bit harder against Keith’s chest. “Everyone knows that this city was Zone One. It was the first one that was infected in this state.”

“I don’t know what this place is and all I wanted was to sneak in and out without being bit. That’s all.”

“Oh, so you weren’t one of the idiots who burned half of the freaks in the downtown area? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I have no idea why they’re burnt or why the area is deserted and I don’t care! I just need to get back to my group before the sun sets and I’m stuck in the city.”

The man narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward. “Your group, huh? You asked me if I was a rogue but how do I know you’re not one with all the hiding you were doing with your partner?”

Keith’s eyes widened and the man only let out a bark of cruel laughter. 

“Oh, you thought I didn’t notice your partner hiding under the cash register? I saw her before you crawled out of there without looking all around you. How have you survived this long without common sense, mullet?”

Keith only grit his teeth tightly, resisting the urge to lunge forward and slash the man’s face in half. 

“Is she your run partner? Sister? Friend?” He gasped before letting out a dark chuckle, “wait, don’t tell me. She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she? Oh, sorry. I probably ruined your date, didn’t I?”

Keith’s eyes widened at the accusation, and not because the man had insinuated Nadia was his girlfriend. Nadia was like a sister to him, and hearing that this guy was ready to blow her head off along with his made him go absolutely frigid. 

“Don’t you _dare_ touch her,” Keith growled, knuckles white under his fingerless leather gloves. “Take me if you have to, but don’t touch her. Let her go.”

The man looked taken aback, eyes slightly widening before the cold look returned to them. “How sweet. You’d give up your life for her, wouldn’t you?”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“I have a better plan. You mentioned a group, didn’t you?”

Keith’s blood froze. _Shit._

“And what if I did?” he challenged. 

“Well, correct next if I’m wrong but it takes a lot to maintain a group. A base and plenty of supplies, right?”

“So?”

“ _So_ you’re going to take me to your camp and let me stay there along with my own group.” 

“And what are you going to do if I say no?” Keith asked cockily, narrowing his eyes with a knife still in the other man’s face. 

The man only rolled his eyes, the tip of his rifle still up against Keith’s chest. “I guess we’ll never know.”

Keith only let out a forced short laugh. What a fucking _asshole_. 

“Fine,” he spat, “I’ll take you back to our camp, but you need to promise not to kill me on the way.”

“I can do that.”

“And get your fucking rifle out of my face!”

“It’s in your chest, but continue.”

Keith only let out a low growl before lowering his knife, staring at the stranger expectantly. 

The other man only stared at him for a few seconds before lowering his rifle and to Keith’s surprise, let out a sigh of what almost sounded like _relief_. 

“Hunk! Pidge!” He called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Come out from wherever you’re hiding!”

Keith stared at him like he was crazy before suddenly remembering about Nadia. He proceeded to crouch down and hold out a hand towards her, a gesture she greatly appreciated and showed by hugging him tightly once she was out of her hiding spot, head buried in his chest. 

“Oh thank god he didn’t kill you! Are you okay?!” She asked, searching his face for any signs of trauma. “Your mom is going to kill us when she finds out you were manhandled by rogues again!”

“He’s not a rogue,” Keith reassured her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “At least, I don’t think he is.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“For one he sounds like he’s on good terms with whoever he’s here with and we both know rogues hate one another. Secondly, he asked to go back to camp with us and sounded relieved when I said yes. He’s clearly just a guy putting up a bluff.”

“You got all that from a single conversation?” Nadia said with raised brows. She then let out a small sigh, shaking her head before patting Keith’s chest lightly. “Wow. Now I get why your mom put you as the leader.”

“Huh?”

“Mullet!” The man called out impatiently, “get your ass over here!”

Keith’s confusion quickly turned into irritation at the sound of the man’s voice. Forcing himself to remember that he was still technically at the mercy of the stupid rifle-man, he turned back around and walked back to him, this time with Nadia at his side. With a quick glance down at her hands, a small grin graced his lips when he realized she was making crude hand gestures at the rifleman before disappearing as he came face to face with him again. This time he was finally standing in front of the door where Keith could actually see him clearly for the first time. 

The man wore a navy jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up at his elbows, a dirty white shirt clearly visible under it with blue at the collar. Over the white shirt there was a rifle holster forming an x at the front, the rifle clearly missing from its spot. He had light blue jeans with what Keith could only describe as a fanny pack attached around his hips with navy blue boots to match his jacket on his feet. Keith hated to admit it but this guy looked better than he did considering they were in the middle of the apocalypse. 

“Oi! Stop yelling across the store,” a female voice called out, paired with the grumbling of another male voice. 

“Then you should have your walkie-talkie on,” the man next to Keith replied in an annoyed tone, tapping his left foot on the ground impatiently. 

“You know I hate those things,” the female voice called out again, this time both her and her partner stepping into the light. 

Keith had to repress the urge to gasp in surprise when he finally saw her, biting down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood. Standing in front of him stood a carbon copy of Matt, except this girl looked ages younger than him and didn’t have long hair, hers at her shoulder. Other than that she looked exactly like Matt, down to the hair color and posture and weird green themed outfit. Nadia also let out a gasp of recognition, but a quick kick to her foot from Keith silenced her. 

Then Keith remembered what the man had called her, and he had to bite down in his tongue before forcing himself to look at the guy he had called Hunk. 

Next to Pidge stood someone Keith didn’t know, although if Keith could pick one word to describe him it would be: _big_. He had big muscles and a short sleeved shirt, the only person Keith respected because it was fucking hot outside and he could not _understand_ how the one who had pressed the gun up wore a jacket in eighty-degree weather. The guy also had what looked like a big map rolled up on his back stuffed in a bag. He had an orange bandana tied around his forehead and Keith immediately decided he liked this one the best out of the other two. He just radiated friendliness— if you took the spiked bat in his hands out of the equation, anyways. 

“Well even if you hate them you need to use them,” the unnamed man said with a roll of his eyes. 

“Lance, those things are a hassle to use and you know it,” Hunk deadpanned. “They don’t even work when you need them to. Remember Amber Road Ambush?”

“Amber Road Ambush was not the fault of the walkie-talkies.”

“They led you to the wrong location because they cut out before we could tell you we had messed up the first one we told you. I mean if that’s not enough of a disaster there’s also Jasper Street Jumping and–”

“Okay, Okay! I get it! Those things don’t work! But I think if we fine tune them a bit more they’ll eventually–”

“Okay look I hate taking charge here but you literally pressed a rifle to my head and threatened to kill me if I didn’t take you back to my camp right now, but you’re not moving,” Keith finally spoke up, glaring at Lance. “Can I go if you won’t shut up?”

The trio finally turned their attention to Keith, who sported an extremely sour expression as did Nadia.

“I still have the rifle,” Lance threatened, only to be met by Keith’s glare. 

“Shut up. You won’t pull the trigger on a living person; at least, not to kill them you won’t.”

“Oh yeah? And what makes you so sure about that?” Lance challenged, taking a step towards Keith. 

“Your eyes,” Keith replied calmly. 

Lance’s eyes immediately widened in surprise, obviously taken aback by Keith’s statement. He only stared at Keith, trying to process what the hell had just happened when Pidge finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had filled the pharmacy. 

“ _Wow_ ,” Pidge said in an almost-impressed tone. “Lance, this guy owned you. We’re keeping him right? He gives me major Criminal Minds vibes.”

Lance turned back around to her, all previous shock gone from his face. “Actually he’s keeping us.” 

“What?” Hunk asked. 

“He has a camp,” Lance continued, narrowing his eyes as he looked back at Keith, “and by the way he’s acting, I’m pretty sure it’s a big one. He didn’t want to tell me about it at first but I finally cracked him.” 

“Oh no,” Hunk groaned, “you pulled the rogue card on him, didn’t you?” 

“Hey I had to know if he was a rogue or not first before demanding shelter. Besides, I got us a camp now didn’t I?” 

“Yeah but are you sure we can trust this guy?” Hunk asked, glancing back at Keith who pretended to look in the other direction. “What if he’s a really good liar and he’s actually a rogue?” 

“I’m not,” Keith called out, drawing the attention back to himself. “I’m not, uh, a rogue. I just want to get back to my camp and call it a day, okay? So if we could move it along I’d be glad to take you back to camp. 

“Would you really, though,” Nadia mumbled dryly. 

“Nadia, _please_.” 

“What? I’m just saying–” 

“We can talk about it on the way back,” Keith said tiredly before turning his attention back to the group. “Well, are we leaving yet?” 

Lance narrowed his eyes, waving a finger in Keith’s face. “Oh no sir, you’re not leading us. I am the leader of my group and since you are now part of my group you will be under my direction. You will take us back to your camp, but first we stop at our own. Understood?” 

“That’s fine by me,” Keith spat. “I hated being a leader anyways.” 

“That’s not my problem,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes, before pushing Keith and Nadia out of the store into the street next to a school bus that was parked directly outside the pharmacy. 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it!” 

“On the bus,” Lance said coldly, pressing the rifle tip against Keith’s back. 

“I told you, get your fucking rifle off of me!” Keith said angrily, yet made no effort to free himself as he was led onto the bus with Nadia in front of him. 

They were pushed into the first row of seats, Nadia right behind the driver’s seat and Keith right behind the stairs. They fell into the seats with a thud, the seats warm and sticky from all the heat. Lance followed in after them, sitting next to Keith while Pidge sat next to Nadia, the woman visibly sighing when she saw it was Pidge sitting next to her. Hunk was the last one in, and after throwing his bag into the empty seat behind Lance he hopped into the driver’s seat and began to drive, no words spoken. 

Keith didn’t even bother speaking and instead focused on the passing buildings outside the bus, leaning his head on the window. It brought back vague memories to when he would ride the school bus as a child after school, passing all the other kids playing in the street and walking home after school with toys and candy in their hands or, on occasion, the hand of another person. 

Oh, good times. Too bad he was basically being held hostage by another group and now had to bring back three more mouths to feed to the camp that was already running out supplies. 

He had really fucked up, and this time it wasn’t James’ fault. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quarentine has given me so much free time that I've been writing chapters like crazy so here you go! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and as usual any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading. <3


	4. stuck with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance brings Keith back to where his group is and reveals something surprising to Keith. Meanwhile, a precarious situation arises for Keith's team.

Lance was seventeen when the apocalypse began.

He remembered the day the outbreak happened clearly. He had been in his backyard with his three-year old niece and nephew, the two giggling on the swings as he pushed them forward. It was a relatively normal day; the sun was out, not a single cloud in sight and everyone was absolutely calm inside the house. That had been the most ironic part of the day, because that was going to be the darkest day in history despite the sunny skies and kids playing. Everything was fine until it wasn’t, and soon the children’s laughter turned to screams as they heard the roar of various helicopters overhead and the shouts to go inside.

He always knew the end of the world was coming, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so suddenly.

He smelt the dead next, the stench of rotting flesh increasing as the seconds passed. Then he saw the heads approaching from the forest a few miles behind the fence that separated their property from the woodlands, and without thinking he quickly pulled his crying niece and nephew inside the house before slamming the door shut. He remembered his family asking what was wrong before helping him barricade the first floor doors and windows as fast as humanly possible. He remembered them rushing into the basement where they had stocked up on food, everyone closed in and packed tightly together in the dark.

It had just been him, Sylvio, Nadia, Rachel, Marco, his mom and his dad when the apocalypse began. Five years later only he, Sylvio and Nadia were alive from the group that had hid in that basement. 

He didn’t like to talk about that.

Those five years fighting for his life while protecting others taught him new valuable life lessons. For one, you do anything to avoid getting bit. That was the first lesson he learned early on into the apocalypse and a bit of a given. Secondly, you shouldn’t trust just anyone. Even during the end of the world people were assholes that stole and killed for fun. He had learned that the hard way.

Then there was the final lesson he had learned that was the cruelest one out there; this lesson taught him that the world could give him everything he ever needed and could also take it away from him in an instant. Nothing was permanent out there, and if there was even one bit of happiness the world found a good way of eliminating it. That had been the cruelest lesson for Lance during these past five years.

So yeah, life had been very shitty for Lance. He had been forced to grow up and step up for the sake of his niece and nephew, and then the others he protected in his group. They were small, probably about eight but they all protected each other as if they were family. That was more than Lance could’ve ever hoped for. Yet as a group they were always running out of supplies, and they knew they needed to find a camp to settle down for good in. Lance knew it when he caught Nadia praying for open air to play in, so he decided to take a leap and ask whoever person he ambushed if they had a camp.

See, it never worked. Not until he met the asshole at the pharmacy, anyways. 

In all honesty the plan had gone better than he had expected it to go. He had expected some physical resistance, especially once he got a good look at the guy and his extremely toned body the first time. He had seen the way his arms never wavered once when he was holding his ground, Lance mentally jotting down that this guy was probably a rogue leader trying to play it cool. Then he had to erase the mental profile he had made when Keith —yeah, that was his name— had given up so easily just to protect his partner. That proved he wasn’t a rogue. 

Rogues didn’t care about anyone or anything.

“We’re here,” Hunk spoke up as he pulled the bus to a stop in front of a worn down house that had a perimeter etched into the ground around it. 

Lance was pulled out of his thoughts by that, standing up and shoving Keith by the shoulder. When the other man woke up with a start from his slumber, hands immediately curled into fists. He looked like a crazed animal, down to the wide eyes and growl. If Lance hadn’t been in a rush to get out of the bus he would’ve laughed, but instead he shook his head and motioned for Keith to stand up. 

“Let’s go.”

“Nadia–”

“Pidge is going to lead her out. She doesn’t look to be too much trouble, but we’ll confiscate the gun if she starts acting up.”

“Ooh, I’m so scared,” Nadia taunted with a face. “Stuff if, blue. Just get me out of this cramped bus and you won’t hear a complaint out of me.”

Lance motioned for Pidge to lead Nadia out of the bus and once he was sure she was down and inside the house he pushed Keith out of the seat and into the stairs, the other man grumbling curses under his breath the whole time. He continued even as they walked in, but the murmurs soon ceased as he was led into the living room where there were other people sitting, all huddled together and staring at the newcomers with wide eyes. 

“Keith,” he heard Nadia whisper to the man, “I feel like we’re going to be eaten.”

“Nadia, please don’t say such stupid things.”

The door closed behind Hunk as he entered, the last one to do so. He made sure all five locks on the door were shut correctly before making his way into the living room, setting his bag down. 

“Oh my god,” a woman said with a relieved face, her brown eyed lighting up as she stood up to hug him, “Hunk! You returned! I was so worried you wouldn’t. You took so long–”

“We got a little sidetracked,” he replied with a small smile before brushing back a strand of hair around her ear. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Shay.”

“Okay okay, that’s lovely and all but _who_ ,” a blonde with twin pigtails trailing down her back, said, “the _quizack_ are they?!”

Lance crosses his arms across his chest, standing behind the couch which Nadia and Keith were sitting on. “Romelle, they are our ticket out of here like you all requested. Happy birthday.”

The three females sitting on the couch stared at him with wide eyes before turning to Hunk, eyes screaming for an explanation. 

“Hey hey, don’t look at me!” Hunk said, defensively, raising his hands up in front of him. “Lance kidnapped them, not me! All I know is that they agreed to take us to their camp after he played–”

“Rogue? Again?” The third female spoke up, her twin Dutch braids flipping over her shoulder as she looked up at Lance with a piercing glare, blue eyes meeting blue. “You couldn’t be a decent human being and ask nicely, couldn’t you. You just had to go ahead and be an asshole.”

Lance felt a tick of irritation rise within him, his hands tightening around the back of the couch. “Look, you all wanted me to find a way to get us into a big group right? Well I finally got someone to agree and now you’re all judging how I did it! I’m just trying to look out for the group you know!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Pidge said with a frown, pointing at Lance. “You need to calm down and sit. Let them talk.”

Lance sucked in a breath before letting out a harsh grunt of annoyance, throwing his hands up in the air. “Fine! Do whatever you’d like!”

He moved around the couch and sat on the couch end to Nadia’s right, observing how she scorched a bit closer to Keith when he did so. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, annoyed with her already. Leave her to play it tough only to need to be protected by her partner. That was going to get her killed one day, he just knew it. 

“I’m sorry about him playing rogue with you,” the female with twin Dutch braids said with an apologetic smile. “I’m Florona. This one right here next to Hunk is Shay, and this one next to me is Romelle.”

Lance glanced at Keith to gauge his reaction, letting out a huff of air when he heard him say, “oh, hi. I’m Keith. This is Nadia, and we don’t know what ‘playing rogue’ means. Does that mean he’s not a rogue?”

Oh, this guy was fucking _rich_. 

“No, he’s not a rogue although he may act like one,” Romelle spoke up, shooting Lance a disapproving glare before returning her attention to Keith. “He just uses that as a ruse to get us into a camp.”

“Why do you need a camp?” Nadia asked, lips forming a thin frown. “You all look like you’re pretty well off. You can scout in the city with no problems now that the downtown area has been cleared and you have a bus. One with tons of gas if you were able to make that journey in and out to this distance.”

The three women looked at one another uneasily before Florona clasped her hands tightly together, looking down at the ground. 

“We sort of have...an issue with staying in one place too long.”

At that moment, a piercing wall cut through the air, startling only Keith and Nadia. The others only let out a sigh, Shay getting up only to be halted by Lance who looked exhausted. 

“I’ll get her.”

Keith watched with wide eyes as Lance left, shocked by the cry that obviously belonged to an infant before turning around to face Florona. 

“You...you have a baby? As in, an actual living baby?”

He noticed how Nadia’s face paled at the mention of a baby, her lips slightly parting to let out a shaky breath. _Weird_ , Lance said to himself. 

“She’s...she’s not any of ours,” Florona said with a small frown. “She’s almost a year old and she doesn’t have a mother. Her mother...her mother died a month after she was born. We’ve been trying to take care of her by ourselves but a camp is our best option for her and the other children to have everything they need to properly grow. We’re inexperienced with them, you see. We don’t know...we don’t know how to do this.”

He licked his lips nervously, squeezing his arm tightly before beginning to speak, his mind made up. “We have a camp, but supplies are strained. We have more mouths than we can feed, and that’s why me and a small scouting group were in the city until ass– Lance, found us. We don’t have a lot of supplies, but I’m sure some of the women will be more than happy to help you out with the baby. I know plenty who have old clothes and raised their babies for the past five years.”

“Would you...actually take us to your camp?” Romelle whispered, eyes wide and hands over her mouth. 

“Yes.” Feeling a bit more brave, he stood up, his stoic face returning. “In fact, we can leave as soon as you’d like. Now, even. We just need to stop by our makeshift camp before heading back to the main camp. We need to gather all supplies that could be of use here and load them into the bus before heading there, though.”

“No,” Lance called out from the entrance, the baby in his arms asleep, dulling the effect of his glare. “We leave in the morning, but we pack today. No one is in condition to travel, Keith. We pack today and leave at the first crack of dawn, but not today. No one travels after sunset. Understood?”

Keith resisted the urge to shoot back some curse words, instead nodding with gritting his teeth. “Fine.”

“Let’s go. Start packing things up. Nadia and Keith will stay on the couch and rest and won’t touch anything. The rest of us will pack up and have things in the front door entrance to load up in the morning. Pidge and Hunk keep watch tonight.”

Lance then walked back into the nursery, but not before Keith caught the way he tenderly moved his thumb across the baby’s cheek. Keith could’ve sworn he saw a ghost of a smile before it was gone, replaced by a frown. Then he was gone, and so were the five in the room. 

Keith and Nadia didn’t say anything to one another for a couple of hours, too afraid to say anything and too tired. The day turned to night and before they knew it everyone had gone off to sleep except for Pidge and Hunk, boxes and containers piled up next to the stairway leading to the second floor. It wasn’t until they had made sure that no one was awake that they finally felt comfortable talking again. 

“Nadia.”

The woman let out a small sigh from her place on the opposite couch, a thin blue blanket Florona had given her spread over her. Her back was to Keith, her lying down on the couch, yet Keith knew she was awake. 

“I’m here.”

He frowned, lowering his gaze to his hands. “Do you...do you think I did the right thing?”

“You’re the leader, Keith. I’m sure you thought everything through before making the decision.”

Keith let out a soft chuckle, glancing up at her back with a crooked grin. “That’s a lie.”

At that Nadia let out a small giggle, finally turning around to stare at Keith with a small smile. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you.”

“No it doesn’t.” 

He laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

“What’s wrong?” Nadia asked, brows slightly furrowing. 

“I don’t...I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing,” Keith confessed, running a gloved hand through his unruly hair. “My mom trusted me to make good decisions but I don’t think I’ve made a single good decision out here since we left. It’s only been a day but we’ve already been taken hostage and have to bring more mouths back to camp to feed.”

“Keith, being a leader isn’t just about leading successful missions,” Nadia said with a frown. “Being a leader means being compassionate and sacrificing yourself for others. You’ve done everything you could to keep the group — _me_ — safe. It’s only been a day but you haven’t failed as a leader.”

“Then why are we here and not with the rest of our group?” Keith said exasperatedly, finally turning his head to look at her. “Admit it, I’ve failed everyone already.”

Nadia let out a small sigh, her gaze falling to the floor. “No you haven’t. You played with a potential rogue and beat him at his own game. You scared the living daylights out of him at the store, remember? He looked so freaked out when you started profiling him.”

“That doesn’t mean anything--”

“And it also doesn’t mean nothing” Nadia quickly quipped back. “You are a good leader, believe it or not. And I know no amount of reasoning from me will convince you so you’ll have to learn that by yourself but yeah, you’re a good leader. You just don’t see it.”

“I guess not,” Keith said with a sigh. 

The sound of a baby crying rang out, making Keith wince before the crying abruptly stopped. He could only assume that Lance had already attended to her before switching his gaze back to Nadia, who had stilled and had turned to her other side, her back facing Keith once again.

“Nadia, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said in a whisper, pulling the blanket tighter around her. “I’ll be fine. Go to sleep, Keith.”

“Rizavi, I am not requesting your suggestions; I am asking for an answer,” he spoke up, sitting upright. “Tell me, what is going on? What bothers you so much about that baby?”

Nadia mumbled something under her breath, much to Keith’s annoyance.

“Speak up, Nadia. What’s going on?”

After a beat of silence, Nadia let out a resigned sigh. Without moving, she began to talk, albeit in a hushed tone. “I had a baby sister once...you know, before the apocalypse began. She had the most pretty smile that could melt your heart,” she sighed, the smile in her tone evident. “She was so loud and sweet; my mom used to say she was a carbon copy of me.”

Then her smile disappeared, and she tightened the blanket around herself. “She didn’t even make it to her first birthday. She died two days after the infected took over my town while we were running away. She was scratched, and she just spiraled down from there. My...my father was the one who had to put her down. No one was the same after that...including me.”

Keith stared at her back with a shocked expression. “Nadia…”

“You know,” she said, finally turning around to face him with trembling lips, “I wanted a baby at one point when I was at camp. I just wanted a chance to have a baby to relive the sweet, innocent smile my sister once had, but the one person who I want doesn’t want me the way I want him!”

Her tears finally spilled and she pressed her hands to her eyes, quiet sobs filling the room.  
Keith crossed the carpet and hugged her with one arm around her shoulders, letting her cry freely while he just held onto her, reassuring her that he was there to listen to her. She cried and cried for what seemed like hours before her sobs finally ceased and she rested her head against his shoulder, eyes staring at the empty couch across from her.

“Nadia?”

“Hm?”

Keith squeezed her shoulder tightly, offering some comfort. “You’ll get whatever you want one day, you know? And if Griffin doesn’t play his part and man up then someone else will, and you’ll get the happy ending you deserve. You’ll see. You will be happy one day.”

Nadia let out a small chuckle, wiping her nose with her wrist. “You really think so?”

“Hey, the world is shitty but you can also find some happiness in it. You can’t let it win.”

Nadia smiled, finally turning her attention to his face. “You’re so nice to me. Why couldn't I have fallen for you instead?”

“You did,” Keith deadpanned, all motivational words suddenly gone. “You fell for me for one day when I got to camp and tried to sneak into my RV before my mom threatened to kick you out of the camp. You were madly in love with me for one day before you went back to your normal life.”

Nadia let out a small snort, pushing him away lightly with her fist. “Hey, that was a dare and you know it. McLevy said I couldn’t get into your pants so I tried because I was bored. Of course it didn’t work but you gotta admit, it was pretty funny!”

“You caught me half naked and fell off the RV roof. How was that fun again?”

“I must say you look pretty good under all that clothes,” Nadia teased with a grin. “I bet Ryou wouldn’t mind taking those all off for you back at camp–”

“Hey,” Keith said with a slight glare, “we made a pact. I won’t ask you about Griffin and you won’t ask me about any guys at camp. Remember? We did it on our first run together.”

“Yeah but come on! You gotta admit that Ryou is at least handsome, right? He’s like totally your type!”

Keith looked at her incredulously, asking, “and how do you know what my type is? I’ve never dated anyone at camp.”

“We’ve seen the ‘bruises’ during a lot of debriefings with the chief,” Nadia said with a smirk, giggling as if she were spilling the world’s biggest secret out there. “We all know they aren’t bruises or mosquito bites.”

“They’re zombie bites,” Keith deadpanned.

“Oh come on! I’m like, your certified best friend other than Matt at camp. You can share some stuff with me! I swear I won’t tell. Where are you getting the hickies?”

He flashed her a smirk, eyes narrowing. “Oh wouldn’t you love to know.”

“Oh come on!” Nadia whined, Keith laughing at her annoyance. 

“Seriously Nadia, no one at camp has my interest,” Keith said amusedly, a playful grin on his lips. “I don’t date unless I know I want them for real. I don’t like flings.”

“You wouldn’t even sleep with the rat Matt?”

“No!” Keith squawked, flushing red. “Nadia, he’s as much of a brother to me as you are a sister. Please don’t start ‘planting seeds’ in my head like you call them. They’re not going to even be allowed out of their packet.”

“You need to find someone though,” Nadia said with a small pout. “Everyone thinks I’m screwing around with you because I’m the only female you talk to who isn’t your mom. Hell, I think that Lance guy thinks we’re together!”

Keith let out a snort, shaking his head. “Yeah, he probably does with how I acted back at the pharmacy.”

“Little does he know that you’re gay and packing.”

“ _Nadia_!”

She let out pure childish giggles, hiding her large smile with her hands while Keith flushed all over with embarrassment. 

“Okay okay, but serious talk right now,” Nadia said, her smile fading. “What are you going to tell your mom when you come back to camp with eight new people and little to no new supplies? What are you going to do then?”

“She won’t turn them away,” Keith replied with a small frown. “My mom is understanding; she’ll take them in before they even ask for sanctuary. I’m just worried about the supplies because you’re right, we have very little. Also running back to the city isn’t an option. We are not going back there at all.”

Nadia furrowed her brows in confusion. “I get that it’s creepy, but...why? We’re going to need it if we’re bringing a lot more people to camp.”

“Nadia, this city has been cleared out by rogues,” he said in a hushed tone, quickly glancing around to ensure no one else was listening in. “I saw their sign —you know, the purple one with the circle and the snake in the middle?— on a building as we drove by. They’ve somehow cleared out the city just so they can live there. The city isn’t safe at all, and we can’t go back.”

“Are you sure it was the rogue sign? It could just be graffiti–”

“Nadia, I was captured by the rogues,” Keith said, holding out his wrist for her to see the scars littering it. “They tortured me and my brother for weeks before we finally escaped. Believe me, I have a pretty good idea what their sign looks like.”

“So this trip we made was literally for nothing,” Nadia said frustratedly, glaring at the ground. “I can’t believe just how much bad luck we have. I mean, first we get basically kidnapped and now the city is being taken over by rogues? This _sucks_.”

“What sucks more is being held captive by the guy who put a gun up to my neck,” Keith said irritatedly, glaring at the stairway leading to the second floor. “I hate him. He literally makes me contemplate murder whenever I think of him.”

“I don’t think he’s half bad,” Nadia said with a small frown. “I just think he’s a guy that’s trying his best to provide for his group while everyone keeps nagging at him. He’s clearly just a good guy who’s tired and is trying to do his best.”

“Yeah, well, he needs to try harder because that crappy attitude won’t work with my mom,” Keith said with a small huff. “She’s going to kill him on the spot if he talks to her like he talked to me. I might be a pushover but my mom isn’t. She literally joined the army at eighteen and was the top cop down at her precinct before the apocalypse.”

“Okay but she’s like an inspiration,” Nadia said with a grin. “I can’t wait to see her rock his shit if he tries to talk back to her. That’ll be some comedy for my sad, sad life.”

They both chuckled at that, sitting side by side on the couch while leaning on one another. It was like that for a few minutes until Nadia let out a small yawn. Glancing at the clock, she all but kicked Keith off the couch, earning her a sharp yelp from the poor man. 

“Go to sleep, Keith. We have a busy day tomorrow and I want my sleep.”

Keith only rolled his eyes before slipping his blanket over him again, Nadia turning her back to him once again as she attempted to act like she was sleeping.

“Goodnight, Nadia.”

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a pair of eyes had been spying on them. The person let out a small huff and turned away from the top of the stairway back into his room, back to the baby that was asleep on his bed and the pictures littering his nightstand that haunted his dreams at night along with a golden locket nestled tightly in the pocket of his jacket. 

_“You would do anything for me? Even eat dirt?”_

_“For you, I’d do anything. Forever and always.”_

* * *

Morning came quickly and so did the movement out of the house. Boxes and bags were loaded onto the bus quickly to avoid the sudden appearance of a zombie, everyone helping out. Even Keith and Nadia were put to work although no one quite fully trusted them yet, helping load up gallons of water and boxes full of food. 

Everyone piled into the bus soon after everything was loaded, with Keith and Nadia together in the seat he had occupied hours ago and Lance right across them, rifle leaning against the window while he held onto the baby fiercely. The two younger members of the group sat behind him, the boy —Sylvio— talking to the girl —Nadia. Freaky, right?— who only stared out the window while the women piled up behind them into two seats. Hunk took his seat at the driver's seat, and then they were off without a word except for the occasional mumbling of Keith to Hunk about what direction to go in, tone soft and less harsh than it had been with Lance.

Lance had to scoff at that. This man really thought he hated him and although he hated to admit it, it stung. A lot, actually. He knew he wasn’t a friendly guy —and if he had once been, the apocalypse had made sure he wasn’t one anymore— but the idea of Keith disliking him bothered him. All he had done was find shelter and aid for his group. Couldn’t Keith see that? He was a leader, so why didn’t he understand Lance’s motives? What a great leader. 

Lance was only pulled out of his thoughts at the sudden stop of the bus, followed by his partner’s — no, Nadia’s— gasps and Keith abruptly standing up, knives and guns already out of their holsters. He didn’t know what all the ruckus was about until he saw the telltale purple circle and a snake in the middle spray painted on the front door of the house. 

A chill passed through his body, his face freezing. He didn’t register when Nadia and Keith got off the bus, quickly followed by Pidge and Romelle with a bat and gun in hand. Then Shay quickly slid into the seat with Nadia and Sylvio to hold them close, and before he knew it he was passing on the baby to Florona and running out of the bus with his rifle into the house, ready to shoot anyone and anything.

He was met with crying coming from a distance and Keith and Pidge standing in the living room, five different bodies on the ground with fresh blood coming out of them. Romelle was nowhere to be seen, sending him into a panicked mode.

“Where’s Romelle?!” he barked at Keith, only to be brushed aside by him as he ran further into the house with Pidge at his heels.

Lance had no choice but to follow them, and when he stepped into the kitchen he almost fainted right there on the spot. 

Blood. So much damn blood pouring out of open wounds, and...oh god. Was that a piece of bone sticking out of the girl’s arm?

“Lance! Get Hunk to help us load them up on the bus! I need to properly treat them there!”

Blood. So much blood...a man barely conscious with a bullet wound in his abdomen stroking Nadia’s tears with his hand numbly while trying to whisper something, another with rope burns on his exposed back and his left eye swollen so much that he couldn’t open it yet still conscious, and a girl with short dirty blonde hair in Romelle’s lap with a dislocated shoulder and cuts and bruises littering her face, unconscious. So much blood...so much…

“Lance!”

“I’m on it!” Lance shouted before running out of the house as fast as his legs could carry him. 

He didn’t even register what he told Hunk, only that the man had immediately left Shay in charge of the driver’s seat while he ran out of the bus, following after Lance as he entered the house.

“James, please just...just hold on…”

“Ina, Ryan, you’re going to be okay. You have to be okay. You will be okay! Please, just don’t close your eyes... _please_ …”

Lance squeezed his eyes shut, putting up his hands to his ears as they began to ring, memory after memory beginning to swim around in his head.

_“You’re going to be okay! Please...please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone!”_

_“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry…”_

“Lance. Lance!” Keith called out, snapping him back to reality, “pull yourself together and help me with their bags! We have to go before the rest of the rogues get back! Now!”

Lance didn’t even care that it was Keith above all people yelling at him to get his shit together, the cracking and panic in his voice all too familiar to Lance. He was worried sick about his group, a feeling Lance knew was an awful one to experience. So he just obliged to Keith’s request, helping him collect the bags full of the supplies and the various piles of ammo littering the coffee table he knew were probably from their base before running back onto the bus, leaving the house of terrors behind. 

He didn’t even bother to shut the door as they scrambled into the bus, instead sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the bus. Only then did he shut the door and did a U-turn before driving away from the city towards the mountains, both his and Keith’s breath ragged from all the running. 

“Where...where now?”

“Our camp is in the mountains,” Keith said with a cough, desperately trying to catch his breath. “We’re two hours away from the city...I don’t...I don’t think anyone knows where it is. We’re at a water gap in some park, I just...let me drive.”

“No,” Lance snapped, jerking his neck back at the group standing in the back of the bus trying desperately to treat the three wounded passengers. “Those are your team members, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with–”

“You need to tell me which direction I’m going in before they bleed out and I’m not going to let you drive because you need to be checking up on them and the one team member who is still physically okay! So stop being so stubborn and just tell me where I’m going before someone dies!”

Keith let out a frustrated groan before pulling a map off the front dashboard, opening it up and scanning it wildly with his eyes before he found what he was looking for. 

“Stay on I-476 N and once you near Delaware Water Gap get off the highway and turn onto River Road! Keep driving on it until we hit camp, and then I’ll take over. Now step on it!”

Keith proceeded to practically run down the bus aisle towards the back, frantically trying to peer over Romelle and Hunk, who were attending to James and Nadia while Pidge helped Ryan clean up the cuts and bruises littering his back. He saw Nadia nowhere to be seen, panic arising within him. 

“Nadia? Nadia!”

“I’m here,” she whispered from his right, sitting on the bus seat with her knees up to her chest and her head resting on them. “I’m always here.”

“Nadia, they’re going to be okay,” Keith soothed as best as he could, slipping into the seat and pulling her into a hug. “They’re going to be okay; James is going to be okay. He’s going to be okay and so will you.”

Nadia let out a shudder, shaking her head while her sniffles grew in volume. “You’re such a liar,” she cried, looking up at him with running mascara and trembling pink lips. “You’re such a damn liar!”

Nadia wept freely into his shirt, holding onto him for dear life while Keith held her in his arms, soothing her with words he didn’t even believe himself. James was shot and practically dead when they found him and Ina was knocked out cold with an extreme fracture. Ryan looked better than all of them, but he still looked terrible. Of course Nadia didn’t believe his words. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in Nadia’s hair, the woman all cried out and passed out in his arms, “I’m so sorry.”

Blue eyes in the front snapped up to the rearview mirror, training themselves on Keith’s bowed head right in front of the rows where his injured team members were being treated. The female had been propped up but was still out of it, and the one with the bruised eye seemed to be doing okay. The one with the bullet wound worried Lance, however, and remembering the name Nadia had called him it all clicked. 

James. The one that caused the most headaches to the leader but was loved by one who seemed to love him more than he loved her. He didn’t buy that for one second, however. The way he had reached out desperately for her when she ran into the room and cradled him in her arms...yeah, Lance knew the guy was head over heels for her. All that gossip last night had been pure gossip; Lance didn’t even know these people but he knew a spark when he saw one. Those were hard to miss. 

_“Lance, te amo mi amor.”_

_“I love you too. With all my heart.”_

He shook the thoughts out of his head, a heavy pain in his chest and an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. 

If anyone noticed the sudden acceleration of the bus, no one said anything. Not even Florona, who held the baby with one arm while staring out the window with a faraway look, her other hand on the locket around her neck identical to the one Lance had in his pocket, down to the picture inside of it. 

_“It’s my family...and now you’re my family too.”_

_“I have never wanted to marry you harder than I do now.”_

Lance accelerated even more, desperate to get out of the god forsaken bus that was full of memories he so desperately wanted to forget ever happened. No one cared that he was going faster; if anything, they were most likely thankful because it meant more chances for the survival of the injured. But he knew deep down inside that he was beginning to spiral, and he was doing it while he was supposed to be the level headed one. 

He drove as quickly as he could, desperately trying to block the thoughts and memories that kept taunting him. 

_“Smile, Lance. You’re going to look more viejo than you already are.”_

Lance gripped the steering wheel, abruptly pulling off the highway into the street Keith had mentioned. _No, no, no. We’ll have time to spiral later._

He drove furiously through the street, passing trees that would’ve once blocked all cell phone signal as well as anything else. He passed small stores that looked all but abandoned, and it was easy to see that they had been ransacked by Keith’s group already. He passed rows of dead corn that had been killed by the trampling of zombies and living human beings alike. He passed an elementary school with cars still parked in front, although all the windows and doors had been blown off, leaving it clear that everything valuable inside the school was gone. He saw no bodies, but he saw evidence that zombies had passed through the area more than once with random items of clothing casually strewn about on the road. He saw road bumps and nothing but trees and more trees.

He was just about to ask if he was going in the right direction when he saw a break in the trees up ahead, sunlight clearly visible. He didn’t even have to ask Keith —who at this point was scrambling to the front— to know that this was the camp, and he abruptly turned into the dirt path that led to the parking lot. 

He pulled the bus to a loud stop into the closest empty spot, letting his hands rest on the steering wheel while he stared ahead with wide eyes. Keith was speaking to him but he couldn’t hear, too wrapped up in himself to bother paying attention. But soon he had to pay attention because he saw Keith reaching over with his knife to pry the door to the bus open, suddenly making him remember why he was here in the first place. 

He opened the bus door and Keith practically bolted out of the bus, running towards a woman that had been running towards the bus. He met her halfway, and Lance couldn’t hear what they were saying but judging by the way the woman put her hands on Keith’s shoulders while people poured out of a big white tent, stretchers in tow, she was trying to calm him down. 

Lance didn’t even have time to marvel at the fact that they had stretchers before the people stormed on board, running down towards the injured passengers. James was quickly loaded onto the first stretcher, and when he passed by Lance he could see that the blood had already made it to the top layer of bandages that had been recently applied. His skin was so pale that he could pass as a vampire from _Twilight_ , and based on the way his hair clung onto him for dear life, Lance could only assume that he had an extremely high fever. 

Nadia quickly followed after him, shouting that she had lidocaine and other surgical objects in her book bag, all her tears gone and replaced with willingness to do anything to keep him alive. Lance didn’t even pay attention to when the other two were taken out of the bus, focused on how Nadia was shouting at those who told her she couldn’t be in the room, even if she knew how the procedures went. 

“You need me in there! I...I have to be in there! He’d want me to be in there with him!”

“Rizavi, the tent is small enough without extra bodies that aren’t contributing to anything. We can treat him but you need to get to your own tent and calm down!”

“He’d want me to be there!” Nadia protested. “Please, just let me….at least let me stand outside the tent!”

“No.”

“Please! You can’t do this–!”

“Nadia,” Krolia said as she came up behind her and took her by the arms gently, “listen to Brown. He knows what he’s doing, so please just let him go help James.”

“It’s not _fair_ ,” she cried, new tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. “I just want to be with him, even if he doesn’t want me there.”

Brown took this as an opportunity to slip away, Nadia not noticing him run to the medical tent. Instead she was focused on Krolia, trying too hard to not let herself fall apart more than she had. 

“I know you do, but the best thing you can do right now is let them treat him,” Krolia soothed as best as she could, squeezing her arms gently. “You need to let them work and go on with your day, Nadia. I’ll make sure to get updates for you.”

“I can’t. Knowing that he’s in there, bleeding out is all I can think about because I...I...”

“Then think about something else,” Krolia said, gesturing at the bus. “For example, _that._ Where on earth did you get a school bus?!”

“I...Keith knows the situation better than I do,” Nadia sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. “He talked to the people of the other group…I think they have supplies too…”

“Another group? Nadia, what on _earth_ happened out there?”

“I don’t know! I just know that we’re not going back to the city and that someone tried to kill our group!” Nadia said, her voice cracking. “Keith...he knows what’s going on. Ask him.”

Keith was nowhere to be seen when the two turned their heads around to begin looking for him, the only people out and about being curious onlookers and some of Krolia’s men surrounding the bus. Kolivan was at the door of the school bus that was now closed, speaking to someone through the door. Judging by his frustrated face, it was clear to see that he was making no headway. 

“We will not harm you.”

“I’m only talking to the captain,” Keith called out, standing inside the bus with a bundle in his arms. 

“Kogane–”

“Keith, what on earth are you doing?!” Krolia’s voice boomed as she stormed over towards the bus, anger written clearly all over her face. She stopped in front of the bus and banged on the door, staring directly at Keith. “We’re not going to hurt you, for crying out loud!”

“And what about the others in the bus? You...they helped us bring everyone back! I need you to promise me that you won’t do anything to them!”

“Keith of course we’re not going to harm them!” Krolia said with an annoyed roll of her eyes. “Just walk out of there before I pry open the doors myself.”

She heard Keith mumble something to the driver of the bus and in a moment the doors opened. Keith stepped out of the bus with the bundle in his arms, cautiously looking around. Making sure no one was armed he quickly turned the front of his body back towards the bus, nodding at the driver. 

“Alright, let’s move out.”

Slowly, the passengers descended one by one. First came Florona hand in hand with Nadia, Lance’s niece, who had her thumb in her mouth and practically gripped onto Florona’s skirt. Then came Shay with Sylvio, the boy less scared than his sister with wide eyes looking around curiously. Romelle came out after them, bloodied bat in hand with her other hand on a knife on her hip. _That_ raised some brows. Finally Lance came out, rifle slung over his shoulder and a bag in his other hand. 

Krolia immediately zeroed in on the children before glancing up at Lance. “They yours?”

“No. But the baby is.”

Keith’s eyes widened at the revelation, staring at Lance with a stunned expression. He was met with a sad set of eyes and the ghost of a smile, one that wasn’t directed at him but at the baby in his arms. Lance’s baby in Keith’s arms. _Oh my fucking god._

“I’m sorry, did you say baby?”

Keith looked at Lance and with a quick nod, turned back around with the bundle, pulling the top of the blue blanket down to reveal a sleeping baby girl nestled in his arms. Her skin was lighter than Lance’s and the small amount of hair on her head was slightly wavy and dark. Her small hands were nestled against Keith’s chest, moving with every inhale and exhale he took.

“How on earth–”

“That’s not possible–”

“Where’s the mother?” Krolia asked, eyes flashing up towards Lance.

“Dead. Rogues, most likely. I don’t know.”

He let out a small cough before folding his arms across his chest. “But what I do know is that I can’t provide for my group anymore. They need another place to stay and if I can’t stay or whatever then I’ll leave. Just...let them stay. Let the baby stay.”

A flicker of emotions crossed Krolia’s face, rendering her quiet for a few seconds before she gestured towards Keith. 

“Everyone is to be checked for bites or any symptoms when they’re done with Griffin. Keith will take you to the medical tent.”

She then walked away with the rest of the men at her heels, leaving Lance and his group to stare after the woman incredulously. 

“That was easier than I expected,” Lance commented quietly. 

Keith only shook his head in response. “That was just the easiest part.” He then turned around and placed the baby in Lance’s arms before gesturing around him. 

“Welcome to Camp Marmora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I'm back with a new chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you are well during this quarantine phase. As usual, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. <3


	5. hurts like hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks after arriving at Camp Marmora, Lance is still adjusting to living around more people than his regular group. Meanwhile, Keith is determined to figure out what Lance's deal is.

_“Pass the ball over here!”_

_“No, to me!”_

_Lance laughed as he put his foot over the soccer ball, glancing between Nadia and Sylvio for who to kick the ball to. Nadia waved around wildly, her ten year old eyes twinkling brightly while Sylvio looked like he was ready to dash over towards him and kick the ball out from under his foot._

_“Say hi to daddy!”_

_“Daddy! Go!” a voice called out from the porch, followed by rich female laughter._

_With a turn of his head, Lance caught the gaze of his child sitting on her mother’s lap, wearing the same yellow color sundress as her mom. Her childish laughter echoed loudly around him, and a surge of fondness filled his entire body._

_But before he could call out her name, shrieks from Nadia and Sylvio filled the air as the woman began to fall apart, dress color fading and face literally falling apart with rotting skin taking over her once tan features. Her shining blue eyes turned a dull color with the whites of her eyes full of lumps of dead cells. Her lips crumbled and revealed stained teeth, blood dripping down the sides. Her nails gripped onto the baby tightly, digging into her skin._

_“Daddy!”_

“No!”

Lance sat upright in his sleeping bag, gasping desperately for air. His back was drenched with sweat and the blankets were all tangled, his feet tangled within them. 

He quickly looked around the tent, eyes falling on the empty sleeping bag at his side. Sylvio had left the tent but Nadia remained there, fast asleep with her thumb in her mouth. To his left near the center of the tent rested a baby car seat where he could make out his daughter’s chest rising and falling, her long lovely eyelashes brushing her cheeks softly as she slept peacefully. 

“Sylvio,” he croaked before crawling towards the tent opening. He quickly poked his head out and instead of seeing flesh eating zombies, he was met with Romelle sitting on the grass in front of the tent putting a bandaid over Sylvio’s left palm.

“Sylvio?”

“Tio Lance!” The boy jumped up from his spot and quickly rushed to hug him, wrapping his arms around his uncle’s neck. “You’re awake! I thought you were dead.”

“Psh,” Lance scoffed, a small smile forming on his lips as he ruffled Sylvio’s hair. “I haven’t died yet, buddy. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Is Nadia still sleeping?” Romelle asked, peering behind Lance curiously. “I wanted to take her to roam around for a bit. You know, get used to the camp.”

“She’s sleeping,” Lance said, his smile gone and replaced by a frown. “I don’t know if she’ll want to either.”

Romelle sighed wistfully before placing a hand on Sylvio’s shoulder. “Hey Sylvio, why don’t you go play with the other boys? I think they’re short a player for soccer.”

“I’m great at soccer!” Sylvio beamed. He quickly gave Lance one more squeeze before running off in the direction of the other group of boys who had been eyeing him curiously for the past five minutes. Even from afar Lance could see that they were happy to see another boy their age that could play with them. That made him smile a bit. 

“You almost missed breakfast, you know,” Romelle said nonchalantly, folding a yellow blanket on her lap. “Sylvio was up early and wandering around when I found him. Apparently Keith nearly crapped his pants when he saw Sylvio had made his way to the edge of the perimeter.”

“Sylvio did what?” Lance asked, eyes widening as he sat up straight. “Why didn’t you tell me that first? I would’ve scolded him or something!”

“Because Keith already scolded him,” Romelle said with a short glare of impatience. “He told Sylvio that he was only out that far because he was on perimeter check but that he shouldn’t be put there because he has to protect the tent if you’re still asleep. It really fueled his ego.”

A tickle of irritation brushed over Lance at the mention of Keith. “I can do my job of taking care of him, you know. _Keith_ doesn’t have to fill in my shoes.”

Romelle shot him a dirty look, finally setting down the blanket on the one she was sitting on. “Okay, that’s enough. We’ve been here for two weeks and you still won’t even talk to the guy who led us to safety. You know that if we stayed the rogues would’ve gotten us for what you did to their guy–”

“Don’t chastise me, Romelle,” he said with a cold glare. “I know what I did and I don’t regret it.”

“Lance, you have to talk to Keith,” Romelle said, her anger slowly dissipating. “I know you don’t really like him but he’s not so bad. He’s sweet, even. Like you when you met me and P–“

“I don’t talk about the past,” Lance retorted angrily. “Neither should you. Look, I don’t need to talk to him. It’s not like he’s the leader of the camp; Captain Krolia is. She’s running everything so if I want to talk about something I’ll talk to her. She’s the one who managed to find a car seat that Esperanza could rest in.”

“Yeah but…” Romelle stared at Lance for a few seconds with an unreadable expression before letting out a sigh of resignation. “Fine. Suit yourself, but I’m telling you that you should talk to him.” 

She stood up, grabbing the basket from beside her in her hands. “I’m going to find Pidge. Have fun hiding, Lance.”

“Romelle–”

But she was gone, her twin ponytails trailing down her back as he walked towards the medical tent where Shay and Hunk had been in for the past week, treating the wounded. Florona was supposed to be there too, but she had taken up the job of being on patrol. Lance knew she didn’t want to be around him any longer than she had to after he had run them out of the house. 

Lance let out a frustrated groan and ducked his head back into the tent, rubbing circles around his temple with his thumbs. He had only been at the camp for two weeks and already his team members had left him. Even Pidge had left him after realizing that Matt was at camp there, a reunion that had happened in private thanks to Keith setting her up. Romelle was the only one who remained with him, and she was only there because she knew how to deal with Esperanza.

Esperanza. He cast a look at his sleeping daughter, but instead of a smile a pained frown crossed his face and he looked away, his nightmare coming to mind. He crawled over to the blanket that separated him and Nadia in an attempt to forget it, gently moving her shoulder. 

“Nadia? Are you up?”

Nadia nodded, her back remaining towards Lance. 

“I’m going to get up now and take Esperanza to get some food. Do you want to go eat breakfast?”

A shake of a head. 

Lance let out a sigh, eyes full of sadness when they trained themselves on Nadia’s unruly locks. “You need a bath, Nads. Think you’re up for it today?”

She made a small noise and shook her head, leaving Lance to frown and shake his head. “I’ll be in the dining tent if you need me, okay?”

He turned his attention away from her and began to get ready for the day, sliding a new pair of jeans over his boxers and putting back on his boots. He quickly picked up Esperanza and left the tent with one last glance at his niece, who hadn’t stirred. 

Lance marched through the camp with Esperanza in his arms, making sure the blanket was correctly over her head so the sun wouldn’t hurt her. He made sure to avoid eye contact with any of the other campers who still gawked at him, whispers already something common that had appeared as soon as the news broke out that he was the dad of the new baby at camp. Some were sympathetic but some were judgmental. Lance paid no attention to them and continued on with his day or —in this case— his march to the dining tent. 

He was so caught up in marching and ignoring everyone around him that he didn’t see who was actually in front of him and before he knew it Keith was clutching his forehead and so was Lance, the two men clenching their teeth together in a futile attempt to not let any scream of pain escape their mouths. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Keith hissed, glaring up at Lance through his bangs. “Do you even watch where you’re going?!”

“My vision is just fine, _Keith_ ,” Lance spat, rubbing his forehead with his free left hand. “Now stay out of my way and things like this won’t happen!”

Lance continued to march into the dining tent, bystanders whispering about what had happened before being quickly shut down by his glare. The last thing Keith saw was Lance stick a middle finger back at him as he entered the tent, his daughter cradled protectively in his other arm. 

Keith watched Lance leave, shaking his head. 

_Daughter_. Keith couldn’t believe that Lance had a daughter. Granted she was adopted —information Pidge had given him when she caught him staring at the child last week— but still, being a parent to a baby in the middle of the apocalypse took some guts. He wasn’t good with ages, but Keith definitely knew that Lance wasn’t older than twenty-five. He was probably around his age, maybe twenty-four at max. He was _young._

Keith only shook his head at that, walking back to his RV with his hand still pressed to his head. He pitied Lance, but that pity only went so far when he was being a big jackass towards everyone at camp. Or maybe it was just towards him.

He climbed into the RV and sat on the top step, elbows propped up on his knees and his head resting on his hands. A rifle rested on the side of a cabinet inside the RV, hanging just above Keith’s head. He had left it there as a precaution in case he ever had to shoot a zombie from inside the RV during an emergency, but he had never used it. He hoped he never had to use it, either.

He scoped out the area in front of him, eyes glancing from one person to another. First there were the various trails of people entering and leaving the dining tent with children running ahead of the grown ups. Keith saw a pair of teenagers giggle in line before sneaking off towards the wooded area which made him roll his eyes before he picked up his walkie talkie. 

“Matt? Can you hear me? Over.”

“Clear as day, cap. What’s up? Over.”

“Saw some kids run off into the woods together just east of your position. Make sure they don’t pass the perimeter if you see them and alert the other guards. We don’t need a repeat of this morning. Over.”

“Copy that. Wait, are you talking about Sylvio sneaking up on you? Over.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Matt, get back to work. Over.”

He put the walkie-talkie to rest at his side, returning his gaze to the open field. Some guys were swimming in the water with a few children, the women lining up at the one building on site that held the bathrooms and makeshift baths. He saw one of Lance’s group member’s on the line with them, chattering about with a few others who looked excited to hear her tale. At the top of the beach he saw the quieter woman, the one who had called herself Florona, all alone. 

Keith didn’t know what had happened but he just had a feeling that Lance and Florona didn’t get along. There had been awkward tension in the air back at their previous location when Keith had arrived, but he didn’t want to pry. It seemed too personal. 

Movement out of the left corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly turned his head in that direction. He felt the panic arise within him quickly but it was gone just as fast as it had arrived. The only thing walking about in that diection was a little girl with her head looking around curiously and her left thumb in her mouth.

Keith let out a sigh of relief and a small smile formed on his lips. He remembered her. 

He had known there were children in the house when he and Nadia spent the night but he never saw them until the morning after when they were loading the bus up. He had just been thrown into his seat by Lance when they walked in; a boy and a girl around the same age. The boy looked eager to get out, blue eyes shining and looking wildly around the bus. The girl looked startingly similar to him although she was a bit paler, but at first glance anyone could tell they were siblings.

She had a head full of brown hair tied up into twin ponytails that trailed down her back, bangs that had long grown out cupping her cheeks. Her brown eyes were dull in comparison to her brother’s, looking straight ahead and not bothering to look around in excitement. Her pink shirt matched her brother’s blue, and they had the same shoes on but different jeans. Then there was her name: _Nadia_. It was confusing since they already had a Nadia at camp, but they all made adjustments quickly. People grew fond of her quickly. Keith would know; his mother practically adopted her on the spot. Who wouldn’t? She was sweet. She looked like your average eight year old, but there was one odd factor that Keith was able to pinpoint after only a couple of days after they had begun to settle down in the camp. 

She never spoke. She would point at things she wanted or would nod or shake her head to answer yes or no questions, but she never spoke. He had noticed it when she had gotten off the bus and was asked what she wanted to eat by a mother within the camp and had only pointed at Lance. He had then spoken up for her, leaving the mother perplexed but she still smiled at Nadia and went off to get her some food. It had struck Keith as odd, but he didn’t question it. She seemed comfortable with not talking, so Keith wouldn’t pry. It wasn’t his place to do so anyways.

He briefly closed his eyes, tired from the early morning perimeter check. When he opened them he nearly jumped in fear, coming face to face with sweet child brown eyes and a small frown.

“Oh,” he said with a sigh of relief, “Nadia. You scared me.”

A small smile passed her lips and she folded her arms across her chest. She began peeking behind Keith, rising on her toes to do so. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, her lips formed a small disappointed pout and she focused her attention back on Keith, a questioning look in her eyes.

Keith furrowed his brows for a moment before his eyes widened. “Oh, my mom? The captain?”

Nadia nodded, her smile returning. 

“She’s not here right now,” Keith said apologetically. “She’s got a busy day today. I don’t think she’ll be back until tonight.” 

Seeing Nadia’s glum look he felt a pang of guilt hit him, and that guilt only increased when she nodded and turned around to walk back to her tent. Then Keith suddenly gained an idea, and he found himself calling out for Nadia.

“Wait, Nadia!”

She stopped and turned back around to look at him curiously, her head tilting a little to the side.

“Do you like dolls?”

Almost immediately a smile broke out across her features and she quickly bound over towards him. When she reached him she shyly placed her arms behind her back, dimples showing on her cheeks from her small smile.

“You do?” Keith asked, tilting his head to the side.

She nodded eagerly, making him chuckle a little before he got up. “Come on,” he said as he walked into the RV, “I have something I think you’ll like.”

She followed him inside eagerly with a bright smile on her lips. Once inside she took a seat on one of the seats next to the table, looking around curiously while Keith rummaged through the bag laying at the foot of the bed. 

“Aha!” he said triumphantly before turning back around to Nadia, a secret smile on his lips. “You said you liked dolls, right?”

Nadia stared at him impatiently with her arms folded across her chest. That made Keith chuckle, the man raising a hand in surrender.

“Okay, I’ll stop stalling.” He got up and walked towards her, something hidden behind his back. 

“Here,” he said with a small smile as he stopped in front of her. His hand finally came into view and in it was the doll he had found, tattered and ripped apart in all the wrong places with her permanently painted on smile and rosy cheeks. 

“It’s not a pretty doll, but she’s the only one that hasn’t been taken by any of the other kids at camp,” Keith said with a sheepish smile as Nadia let out a small gasp. “She’s your if you want her.”

Nadia looked up at his face and nodded vigorously, pigtails bouncing. That made Keith laugh and he handed the doll over to her.

He watched her craddle the doll gently in her arms, brushing the frayed strands of hair out of her face. She traced her finger over the painted smile before reaching up to touch her own lips. Keith saw her move her lips as she did so, a small sound coming out of her before the finger returned to the doll’s face. She had a faraway look in her eyes making it seem like she wasn’t there. Keith suddenly ddidn’t know what to do, a sinking feeling in his gut.

Had it been wrong of him to give her the doll?

“Hey, Nadia–”

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and a head buried into his chest. Keith was taken aback, staring with wide eyes at the top of Nadia’s head. He heard her let out a small sigh and he hesitantly put a hand on her back, unsure of what was going on.

“ _Thank you_.”

The voice was more like a whisper, so quiet that if Keith hadn’t been paying attention he would’ve missed it. But he heard the voice, so sweet and full of genuine sincerity that made his heart melt. 

“You’re welcome.”

They stood like that for a few seconds before Nadia finally pulled away, the doll clutched tightly in her hands. Keith awkwardly cleared his throat and crossed his arms across his chest, glancing out of the RV. 

“I’m going to head out to the medical tent to check up on some of my friends. Do you want me to drop you back at your tent?”

Nadia quickly shook her head, instead pointing at the medical tent then at herself. 

Keith raised a brow. “You want to go with me?”

She nodded enthusiastically, pigtails bouncing.

He let out a small chuckle and gestured towards the door, a smile visible on his lips. “Come on then. Let’s go.”

* * *

Being a parent was hard. Lance knew this because he was one himself, but being an uncle and a parent in charge of three kids? Yeah, it was a headache in the making. That was like the apocalypse itself even though they were literally living through the apocalypse with actual threats. 

Lance was rightfully stressed. After all, he had to take care of his own baby who was forced to be quiet in fear that she would risk attracting zombies. Sylvio was an overly energetic child who desperately wanted to just play soccer and make friends with everyone. The amount of times he had tried to sneak out to the backyard of their previous house and had almost been bitten was exhausting. And Nadia? She had gone mute soon after the apocalypse and only began talking again when Lance met his lover, only to go mute again when she died. She hadn’t spoken a word since then, either too afraid or unwilling to talk. So yeah, Lance was extremely frustrated. 

That was probably why he had immediately run to Romelle with hurried, worried steps when he couldn’t find Nadia anywhere. She wasn’t even with Sylvio. No one at camp had seen her and Lance was beginning to panic. 

_What if she ran off? What if she got lost? What if…_

“You wanted to ask me something?” Romelle asked, looking up from where she was leaned over a pot full of boiling water. 

“Nadia. You said you wanted to give her a tour of the place. Where is she?”

Confusion filled Romelle’s eyes. “I haven’t seen her since I woke up this morning. I didn’t even see her this morning when I went to check up on you. Why? Oh Lance, please don’t tell me she’s gone.”

“I went to get breakfast for me and Esperanza and when I got back to the tent she was gone,” Lance groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I knew this would happen. She tried running off early on into the whole apocalypse and I knew she’d do it once we got to a new camp.”

“Don’t think like that,” Romelle scolded with a firm frown. “Think of where she could be. Who does she like at camp?”

“The captain but she’s busy at a meeting or something. Then there Florona but she’s been AWOL since we got here. Shay, but she’s in the medical tent and you, but you’re here and…”

“First of all stop spiraling,” Romelle said, grabbing onto his shoulders firmly. “Now give me the baby and think rationally.”

“I don’t know! She doesn’t talk, Romelle. What am I...where could she go? Where could she possibly go that I can’t find her out here?”

“Maybe she’s in one of the tents,” Romelle suggested. “Shay is in the medical tent checking up on that Griffin guy. Maybe she went with her!”

Lance didn’t even bother replying and ran off to the medical tent, leaving Esperanza and Romelle to stand alone together watching after his retreating form. 

He ran from the east end of the camp to the west with all the force he could muster up, earning him curious looks from various campers. He didn’t care and kept running until the entrance to the tent was bigger than a thumb. When he did reach it he immediately ran in and was met with the face of Shay staring at him with confusion filled eyes. In her hands she held a white rag in her hand and a bowl full of cold water that looked like they were about to get launched in his face.

“Shay!”

“What’s the rush?” Shay asked with a small frown. “I thought you were a zombie. I was just about to throw this vinegar–”

“Have you seen Nadia?” Lance asked impatiently. He tried to glance around behind Shay, tapping his foot rapidly on the ground. “I can’t find her anywhere and I haven’t seen her for hours and I don’t know if she–”

“Lance, she is okay,” Shay said in a reassuring tone, gesturing towards the last bed in the tent. “She is back there with Florona, Hunk and Keith. They are all with Nadia Rizavi and are watching over James–”

“She’s with Keith?” Lance practically growled, all fear fading to anger. “What the hell does this asshole not understand…”

“Lance, wait! Don’t–”

Lance ignored her and moved further into the tent, passing rows and rows of empty beds and some beds filled with people that looked like they had just come in for minor scrapes. He knew better, though. Infection even through an open wound that wasn’t zombie inflicted could lead to an increased risk of turning. Yeah, Lance knew that. In an ordinary situation he would probably have his gun on him to ensure he wasn’t attacked by surprise by a suddenly reanimated new corpse, but this wasn’t an ordinary situation. No; Keith- _fucking_ -Kogane had taken his niece with him to wander around in a _medical_ tent. 

“Kogane!” 

Keith immediately turned around as soon as he heard his name, confusion evident in his eyes until Lance came into view. Then his confusion turned to annoyance and all he did was fold his arms across his chest and stepped aside to reveal Nadia. She looked just as annoyed as Keith did, fixing her uncle with a deadpan look.

“Kogane, why the hell is my niece in a medical tent? The people in here are sick! What if she gets sick too? Would you own up as the cause of that, huh? Would you?!”

“Calm down,” Keith replied in an annoyed tone. “Nothing happened to her. Besides, Hunk Shay and Florona are here with her too and they’re armed. If anything goes wrong she’ll be okay.”

“I don’t care! Why the hell is she with you, anyways? And why the hell does she have a doll? Are you trying to lure my niece and nephew to your side?”

“What side?! She just followed me in here! She’s old enough to choose who she wants to do–”

“And since when were you in charge of that decision?” Lance bellowed, face getting redder by the second. “She is my niece, not yours! What the hell are you even–”

“Lance, calm yourself down before I calm you down myself!” Florona snapped, eyes trained on him in a deadly glare. 

Lance felt the words die in his throat and he turned to face Florona with crazed eyes. Her own glare remained fixed, never leaving his face. That was enough to pull him back down to earth and the guilt washed over him in waves and he felt like saying something, only to be cut off by her beginning to speak.

“I don’t know what your problem is Lance–”

“Oh dear god,” Hunk mumbled. “Here we go.”

“—but the way you’re acting is disgusting. Nadia came in here with Keith because she wanted to come, not because he forced her to come. And he gave her the doll because literally no other child at the camp comes to him and Nadia accepted it because she’s an eight year old who has to deal with the apocalypse and everything else around her. He did nothing wrong but you’re acting like an ass.”

“Language, please,” Hunk said exasperatedly, desperately trying to cover Nadia’s ears with his hands. “She’s only eight!”

“I’m...I’m sorry,” Lance said with a flinch, his strong demeanor quickly shifting to meek in an instant. 

That made Keith raise his brows. Seeing how Lance hadn’t even flinched when Keith talked him down at the pharmacy or when he yelled at him during their every interaction, this new side was new to him. It was like Lance was a whole different person around Florona, and he had an inkling that it wasn’t a good person. It was like a kicked puppy or someone who felt guilt. He knew the feeling all too well, but what could Lance possibly have done to Florona to cause her to have so much power over him?

“Look,” he interrupted, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask if she could come here. If I knew you were going to get so riled up about I would’ve asked.”

“No Keith, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Florona said with her glare still trained on Lance.

“Florona–”

“Keith! Keith!” 

“Matt?” Keith said in confusion, picking up the radio attached to his waist. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a whole horde making its way up the freaking mountain!” He hissed, shouts around him loud. “I counted at least fifty dead heads, and that’s just what I could make out on my side. McLevy and Kerovski made out more than fifty on their side.”

“Shit,” Keith cursed, already making his way to the back entrance of the medical tent. “Is it bigger than the last one?”

“Did you not just hear what I said?!” Matt practically shouted. “We need to get every able bodied person out here for Plan Water Gap!”

“Does the chief know?”

“She already sent down most of the gunners but we need the hand held weapon people here too to form the additional lines of defenses. I need you to bring out the additional people who haven’t already heard the call. We need to get women and children into the bathroom building as fast as possible!”

“Copy! Rizavi!” He called out, but she was already behind him with her two pistols in hand and a grim expression set on her features. 

“I heard. I’m going to stand out here and protect the medical tent in case something makes its way past the defense line.”

“You can’t do that alone–”

“I’ll stay with her,” Florona said with a firm frown, stepping up with her arms folded across her chest. “I trained with a guy from West Point for a year. My aim is dead on.”

“Two people isn’t enough to guard a tent and the building.”

“Then I’ll stay too,” Shay piped up, pulling a gun out from behind her back. “I know Romelle will stay too. We’ll be evenly spread out just in case something nasty happens.”

“Then you four will be in charge here. I’ll make sure to let everyone know that we cannot let the G’s pass the first line of defense under any circumstances,” Keith said with a firm nod. “Hunk, Lance, you two are with me. The first line of defense needs aid and we need to get to them! Let’s move!”

Lance was about to protest about leaving Nadia when he was stopped by Ina, who was resting on the bed across from James. She didn’t say anything but enough words were said through her eyes and Lance finally found the courage to run out after Keith, leaving his niece behind and praying that Sylvio would join her. 

He ran through the open field littered with stray tree stumps, the trees chopped down for firewood over the past five years. After a couple of minutes the trees returned in their full height, shielding the first line of defense until it came down to the edge of the woods where they met the cornfield. 

At that point there were lines of men and women lined up with rifles ready, and Lance was blown away when he saw someone actually in a full blown tank. Where the hell they got the tank he didn’t know but he didn’t question it, instead catching a rifle thrown at him by Pidge who stood next to her brother. 

“Do your job, Lance! Don’t let the deadheads through or we risked it all for nothing!”

“Oh don’t you worry,” he said in a low voice, already clicking the trigger and activating the rifle, “I know what I’m doing.”

Now Lance didn’t like to brag, but he was a bit of an expert with mechanics artillery. Rifles were his specialty since he had trained with one excessively once the apocalypse began, but he was good with guns as well. He knew how to spot the movement of the zombies from miles away and had trained for weeks in the woods with Hunk, just trying to improve his zombie hunting skills. He was well versed in the art of accuracy through dense material that fogged his vision. 

So when he saw the slightest movement of a corn stalk a couple of miles away he let out the first shot. Everyone’s ears were met with the loud growl followed by the thump on the ground. Then there was the rise in the moans and groans, the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh and that was all it took for them to begin shooting, the first line of defense aiming at the first zombies that popped up. 

Lance was briefly taken aback by the sheer amount of zombies but never stopped shooting, blowing off the heads of ten zombies in the span of two minutes. He heard the person next to him mutter an “oh my god” but he never stopped. He took out every zombie that made its way into his line of sight, the heavily decayed carcasses falling like flies as gunners shot at them with all the passion in the world. Shots were called by the captain standing on top of the tank with her gun in hand and daggers at her waist. Keith stood at her side, shouting directions at those standing behind the gunners in rows. 

“First row! Change places with the second row! Go go go! Reload!” Keith shouted, waving on the proceeding line of men. 

Lance was taken aback by the strategy and he had to hold in a “what?” as he was practically pushed back behind the last row of defense. He cast his gaze on those who held weapons that weren’t rifles just waiting to be put in the active line of fire, faces full of determination. Women and men alike were there, just waiting for their chance to take out the zombies that had ruined their lives. Another scan at the first two rows now revealed teenagers there with baseball caps and headbands on. Some of these things fell to the ground when they moved positions slightly, their heads jerking around wildly to take out the advancing horde. They couldn’t be more than fourteen years old. 

Then there were those old folks; the ones who had most likely been war heroes in Afghanistan or something else before the apocalypse. There couldn’t be anyone older than fifty there, though. Most of the old folk died early on in the apocalypse after succumbing to the common cold or flu because of the lack of medicine. These people fought with every fiber of their body, and they were the ones with the deadliest aim. They never missed the head. At one point, Lance could’ve sworn he saw a military badge pinned on a woman’s chest. But just as quickly as he saw it it was gone, replaced instead by his gaze shifting up to Krolia and Keith. 

Keith shouted into his radio something that Lance couldn’t hear with the muscles in his neck straining as he put as much force as he could into it. His eyes blazed with fury and he soon saw the first line replaced by the one behind it, the zombies still advancing but not nearly as much as before. They had begun to clear them out but there were still many; maybe 200. 

He didn’t even know where they had come from but they were there, most of them extremely decayed from years of wandering around. Their clothes were mostly gone and Lance had to physically restrain himself from throwing up at the amount of brown liquid that poured out of them once they were down for good. Brown, not even red because the zombies were dead and oxygen was apparently not needed in their freaking body.

_Blood, blood blood...so much blood._

One zombie went down right in front of the first gunner, close enough for Lance to see her in extreme detail. Her eyes were still wide open and she was staring straight ahead with pupils seemingly focused on him. She had reached out for a brief second, a moan escaping her faded pink lips. The hair on her hair was still intact and her clothes were extremely less tattered than those of her fellow undead. She looked young, maybe around her early twenties. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of days infected.

Then his eyes caught sight of the bracelet shining on her arm with two pairs of initials engraved on them and he felt the bile rise up in his throat before he promptly threw up loudly, but not loud enough to draw attention to himself. The world continued around him while he fell to his knees, head swarming with memories that were louder than the gunfire and shouts from the captain and those under her command. 

_“Lance, if anything happens during this run I want you to promise me you’ll give my necklace to Esperanza. Prométemelo, Lance.”_

_“Please...please, Lance! Please just...just take it...take it for her…tell her I loved her so much…”_

_“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”_

He didn’t register when Krolia shouted that it was a victory as the zombies dwindled to single digits or when Pidge let out a battle cry before running into the field to finish them off with her bat in hand. He didn’t register when those with the guns began to cheer as the last of the zombies fell, Hunk delivering the final blow to the last one. He didn’t even register Keith standing in front of him, repeatedly opening his mouth. He just stood there numbly with his rifle held tightly in his grip and eyes wide, trained on the far horizon past the cornfields and mountains. 

“Lance!”

Lance didn’t even bother to look at him before running off back in the direction of the camp as fast as his legs could carry him, abandoning the rifle on the ground much to the surprise of others around him. The gunners from his line tried to talk to him while others started shouting about him throwing the gun down, telling the captain to take him down. No one knew what the hell was wrong with him but they wanted answers. 

“Captain Kogane, this lunatic threw down his gun and scrammed!” a man screamed, his face all puffy and red. “What if some of the Z’s made their way past the defense line?! What if the advance isn’t done?!”

“McLevy stand your ground,” Krolia said through grit teeth. She pointed at the rest of the gunners, those who were just standing there awaiting further instructions. “You see these people? These were all trained by me personally and know proper protocol. McClain doesn’t know that yet–”

“Hey, knock it off,” Keith spat, stepping forward with a glare in his eyes. “Don’t shout at the captain and don’t you dare question her any further! Do we need to remind you that you did almost exactly the same thing the first time we had to defend our camp?”

“That was nothing compared to this asshole–”

“You went batshit crazy and ran out of the line towards the horde when it wasn’t thinned out yet!” Keith shouted, pointing a finger in McLevy’s chest. “We had to break our plan to save your ass from the deadheads and it nearly cost us the whole camp! You are in no position to talk down McClain when he did no damage. He is not trained but he will be, and the captain will make a call under whose squadron he will be placed under. Am I clear?”

He barely stood at 5’9 and McLevy towered over him at 6’2 , but somehow his wrath was felt by everyone around him. The gunners all squirmed under his gaze and even those who were at the frontlines had stopped to watch the spectacle take place. Krolia just stood there behind Keith, her eyes wide open and trained on her son who stared up at McLevy with a look of pure hatred. 

The stare down lasted for what felt like hours, neither man moving from where they were. Then suddenly it was over, McLevy storming off in the same direction Lance had gone with his rifle in hand. Keith never once moved from his spot until he was sure that McLevy was gone and only then did he turn around to face his mom, eyes full of uncertainty. 

“Mom–”

“Troops pull back!” Krolia announced loudly, making Keith wince. “First line of gunners! Do a final sweep to make sure we missed no zombies and once you’re done...go grab a drink of soda. You earned it today.”

Loud cheers were heard and everyone went on their way. Some climbed back towards the camp while others headed to the direction of the parking lot where the secret stash of soda was kept for exceptional victories. 

It wasn’t until the crowd was gone that Keith finally turned to look at his mother, who was ready for him to speak. 

“I know you gave him two weeks to get his act together but he’s going to need more than that. I...I don’t know when or how but I promise you that I’ll see to it myself that he’s trained.”

Krolia stared at him for a couple of seconds before crossing her arms across her chest, closing her eyes. “I don’t know, Keith. He seems like an excellent gunner from what I saw but that act...there’s something that’s keeping him from reaching his full potential. I don’t know what it is but he could very well be the next head gunner after McLevy if he gets his act together.”

“I promise I’ll work on getting him to cooperate,” Keith rushed out, brows pinched together. “I don’t know how but I will. Just please don’t kick him off...please. His team has nowhere else to go and you know–”

She let out a sigh, fixing Keith with a stoic look. “I’m a reasonable person, but I will not hesitate to kick someone out of the camp or take them out myself if they’re not cooperating. I’ve done it before and I will do it again without a single regret. If he doesn’t get his act together, I’ll see to it that he and his team are kicked out myself.”

She turned around and walked back to the camp, following the loud cheers from those who were celebrating the victory over the horde. She never once looked back at Keith for confirmation that he had heard and she didn’t need to. Keith always listened to his mother. 

_Always._

* * *

The water was something Lance hadn’t seen in a while. At least, not lake water. The last time he had swam in one had been the summer before the apocalypse began in upstate New York when he and his family were on vacation. Veronica, his older sister, had recently moved upstate with her girlfriend and had invited them all over for the summer. That had been the best summer of his life and one of the last good memories before the apocalypse. 

_Good times_ , he thought to himself as he stared at the lake water just a couple of feet away from him. The pale image of the moon shined in the water ripples made by the occasional jumping fish and other water creatures. The scene looked like everything he would imagine a camping trip to be, down to the couple of boats in the water with people casting fishing lines out. Even from the shore Lance could hear them laughing and singing random tunes ranging from religious hymns to popular pop songs that had played on the radio non-stop five years ago. 

That made him smile for a minute. At least some people were still happy in the middle of the apocalypse. He could only hope to be so lucky.

He didn’t know why he didn’t sense the presence behind him. He should’ve paid more attention to his surroundings; after all, he was in a foreign camp. He should’ve been more careful. 

“We need to talk.”

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! Hope you guys enjoyed it! (:


	6. falling apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance talk about the consequences of Lance leaving the battle field, and Lance discovers why the females at camp wake up early every single day.

Keith had never accustomed himself to be the first one to extend the olive branch of peace. He had never been the peacemaker, not even as a kid; no, he was the one constantly starting fights and being extended the olive branch. Even today he preferred actions over words.

But today, it seemed like words would have to work over action.

“We need to talk.”

“I would rather not.”

Keith narrowed his eyes, arms instinctively folding across his chest. “That decision isn’t up to you anymore. You’re not in charge of your group anymore; I am.”

A snort escaped Lance’s mouth as he finally turned his face around to stare at Keith with a small smirk. “So you do have some _cojones_ , huh. Surprising. I was under the assumption that you ‘weren’t a leader’ like you said.”

“Oh cut the bullshit out,” Keith said in an annoyed tone. “Look, you can make fun of me all you want but I am not dealing with it today. I need to talk to you and if you don’t want to talk to me then fine. But don’t blame me when you and your entire time gets kicked out of camp.”

He saw the smirk disappear, only to be replaced by a frown. “Wait. I’ll listen.”

“Thought so.”

“Shut up and talk to me, mullet. I don’t just shoot zombies, you know. I can–”

“Shoot me and get kicked out?” Keith suggested with a knowing glance at Lance. “Please. You need this safe haven and you won’t do anything to jeapordize your stay here. Don’t make the stupid mistake that others campers did before they were…” 

He trailed off for a moment, eyes fixed on the fishermen’s boat before shaking his head slightly. “Don’t do something stupid to get kicked out. The captain welcomes everyone but if you do one major thing wrong then you’re screwed.”

“And what major thing have I screwed up now?” Lance asked sarcastically. “Reduced food portions because you brought what, eight new people to camp?”

“No, we were actually able to keep the portions the same because of the supplies you guys brought,” Keith replied without even glancing at Lance, “so thank you for that. No, what you did was worse. You left the battle before it was even over.”

Lance lowered his gaze to the ground, brows slightly furrowing. “I’m not going to talk to you about that.”

“And I’m not going to pry, but whatever that was can’t happen again. Do you know how many gunners think you’re crazy now?”

“Well it’s not like I’m completely sane so in a way they’re right.”

“This is serious,” Keith said, frowning. “The captain saw your shooting today and was impressed. She said that with some proper training you could be one of the head gunners but ditching in the middle of the battle has her on the fence.”

“Why would I even want to be a gunner? It’s not like money is worth anything anymore,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “You have nothing to offer and I don’t want to do it.”

“You’d get to stay in an RV and not a tent.”

Lance’s eyes quickly snapped up to Keith. “And why is that such a good idea?” He challenged. 

“Easy getaway from the camp if we ever get ambushed, more comfortable than the ground, warmer in the winter months...really the list could go on.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

“You’d stay in your tent for another week before the chief kicks you and your whole team out.”

Silence fell between the two of them, the duo staring out at the water. The only sound heard was that of people chattering back in the center of camp and the same tune of a guitar over and over again. It wasn’t loud, though. The silence between the two men was louder. 

“Do you know why I attacked you instead of asking?” 

Keith furrowed his brows slightly. “Because you wanted me to think you were a rogue?”

“No,” Lance said dully, “it wasn’t because of that. It was because I have dealt with a shit load of rogues that think they run the place. We used to be a part of a bigger group but things happened—most of them including rogues— and we were the only survivors from our group. Do you have any idea how it feels to watch your large group dwindle down to less than ten people, including kids?”

“No, but I don’t see how–”

“Do you have any idea how many of our team members were taken hostage by the rogues and held for ransom before getting killed? They promised us that if we paid they would send them back alive. They all came back dead.”

He let out a scoff, eyes hardening as they latched onto the fishermen laughing. “We had a camp just like you, you know. We were about fifty adults and a few kids here and there and everyone did everything to help out. Everything was peaceful until two years ago when a horde of about a thousand deadheads overrun us. By then there were more group members if you get what I mean.”

Keith slightly wrinkled his nose at that but nodded, motioning for Lance to continue his tale. 

“They weren’t all babies though. We had gotten some new team members who were actual adults; that meant they actually knew how to defend a base. Our team leader, Iverson, took them in. But our group was too big, and we looked for a camp until we found one that promised they weren’t rogues. And we freaking believed them.”

He shook his head. “We were so stupid. Our people disappeared one by one over the course of months and not once did we pay any attention to it. They told us they had gotten lost during runs or had ditched us, and we believed them. Iverson was the one who later overheard their plan and alerted us.”

“Iverson had planned our escape, telling us where to be and where to go. By then our group was down to about thirty, most of the children gone along with their parents. It was chaos.”

“What about the rogues?”

“Those bastards. They knew we were into them when we began to disappear one by one from the camp a year ago. When they found out, they held the last few of our team that hadn’t made it out hostage. They brought them into the city which was infested with the dead back then.”

“We laid low in that single house you were in for a couple of weeks before Iverson launched his plan to get back our people. Everyone volunteered except for those who were tasked to stay behind with the kids. Florona stayed back with them while her sister went with us into battle. She fought so hard to change her mind but she was so stubborn.” A fond chuckle escaped his lips, eyes clouded with sadness as he looked up at the moon. “So, so stubborn.”

Noting Keith’s confused expression out of the corner of his eyes he cleared his throat and continued. “The only kids by then were Nadia, Sylvio, Esperanza and another boy named Jack. They kept asking when we would go back to Camp Galra.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them that we’d never be going back.”

“We left early one Sunday morning, hoping to surprise them. We weren’t even past the city gates when we realized bastards knew we were coming and were ready and…” Lance shuddered quietly before continuing lowly, “What happened in the city is something I don’t talk about. I refuse to relive that nightmare again.”

“But what about–”

“My group came back without a leader,” Lance said with a sharp glare. “These fifteen people came back with _me_ , this meek guy who had gone through the worst shit ever in the city. They named me leader only because I was the only rifleman left. We were in a state of isolation, just hiding from the rogues and the hordes that were moving out of the city until after the winter. By then we were just down to the eight of us. Jack was the last to die, and he died from pneumonia.”

“We went into the city for a couple of months, bringing whatever we could in quick runs that wouldn’t put us at risk of being bitten. It went on like that until the city was cleared out and we had to exercise more caution because more and more rogues were moving in. Then imagine my surprise when this guy walks in thinking he owns the place with his girlfriend who puked three times over corpses. I mean, seriously, by now who pukes at seeing corpses?”

“Hey, leave her alone.” Then, with a wrinkle of his nose, “and she's not my girlfriend.”

“Whatever,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “The point is that my team needed a place to stay because the rogues were closing in on us and you just happened to walk in and just reeked of that ‘I’m a leader’ personality. Seriously, you should see the way you walk. Almost had me fooled into thinking you were military trained.”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Anyways,” Lance continued with a passive glare, “the point is that I picked you because I was desperate. I was desperate to get Esperanza away from the rogues because I didn’t want her to die before her first birthday. I didn’t want the twins to have what little innocence they still have left ripped awaw from them. I did it because I can’t stand Florona hating me for the rest of my life. I did it because my group deserved to be some place better than where they were, waiting for the rogues to come after them. They don’t deserve to pay for my mistake.”

“Your mistake?” Keith asked in confusion, only to be brushed off by Lance.

“I came here because that’s all I can do to try and bring some normalcy back to my group; my _family_. All I hope is that I’m not making the same mistake Iverson did when he accepted the invitation to join a rogue team only to be fed to the deadheads after they revealed their true colors.”

Keith folded his arms across his chest, looking down at Lance. “We’re not rogues. We’re offering you help and a place to stay in exchange that you accept a position that you’re already good at. It costs you nothing but it gives you everything. Don’t you get that?”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “I do, but I am warning you once, Keith. The minute something fishy begins I’m hauling ass and leaving and taking you down. You got that?”

“Completely.”

Lance nodded before getting up. When he did stand up he locked eyes with Keith, and with one final tired look, said “goodnight.”

All Keith did was watch as Lance away, the dark figure retreating even further into the camp. He had more questions than answers now but he had to push that curiosity aside to bask in the glory of his victory: he had actually had a productive conversation with Lance. That was a miracle he never thought would happen.

He let out a small chuckle before heading back up the hill towards the medical tent, only to clash outside with Nadia. He felt a cold liquid spill all over his shirt and he immediately let out a groan which was followed by an “oh shit” from Nadia. 

“I’m so, so sorry! But I really need to get in there!”

“What’s the rush?” Keith asked in confusion, trying to shake the water out of his shirt.

Nadia bit her bottom, nervously glancing back at the tent. “It’s James.”

* * *

Lance awoke as soon as he heard the first bird chirps begin, crisp and clear in the middle of the still morning. 

He quickly checked over the children that were still asleep before looking over at Romelle who had been taking care of Esperanza while he was gone. He had offered her a bit of space to sleep next to Nadia which she had accepted, claiming that she missed the child but he knew that it was because she didn’t want to intrude with Shay and Hunk any longer. 

Once he was sure that everyone was okay and asleep he quickly got up and slowly unzipped the tent’s zipper down to make his escape. He made sure to properly close it once again before making his escape with his rifle into the woods, far enough from the perimeter line and close enough to the camp to make a quick escape if he had to. 

“I didn’t know you were part of the gunners.”

Lance let out a sharp gasp of surprise when he came face to face with a man slightly taller than him that held a rifle in his arms. 

“Oh my god...you’re the guy who got the shit beaten out of him.”

“The name is Kinkade,” Ryan said with a small brow raise. “You didn’t answer my question. Since when have you been part of the gunners?”

“I’m not. Well, I mean I am...will be? Yeah, I will be one but I’m not one yet.” He lowered his head, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry...Kinkade.”

“If you’re going to be a gunner you need to go through basic training,” Ryan said in an amused tone. “You can’t just show up with a gun and declare your spot.”

“Basic training?”

“Hand to hand combat and proper gunner position,” Ryan explained with a head nod. “Kogane deals with hand to hand. Once you get the all clear you get McLevy to teach you proper gunner positions and attack formations. When you’re done there you’re assigned a certain group. All the gunners you saw yesterday were all trained for what they did.”

Lance furrowed his brows. “So if they were all trained, why was I brought in? I’m not trained yet.”

Ryan shrugged, fixing Lance with a curious look. “Don’t know. You sure you don’t know why?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Huh.”

“Cap!” 

“Yeah?” Ryan called out, shifting his attention from Lance to a man that was jogging towards him at an even pace. 

“We have a handful of guys who want to pop off some rounds on the birds. Do we have the all clear to do so?”

Ryan shook his head in amusement before turning to face Lance with a small smile. “Good luck McClain.” He then proceeded to jog over towards the other man who proceeded to ask him the same question. 

Lance held his rifle a bit more loosely, looking over at the spot where Kinkade had been standing seconds earlier. What did he mean by ‘you sure you don’t know why?’ Was he really missing something that obvious in front of him or was everyone at the camp simply just speaking in code around him?

The sound of loud grunts and girls giggling drew his attention away from the empty spot next to him. His eyes flickered over towards a spot a bit south away from him where he could make out a few men sparring and girls giggling at a picnic table that had probably been there since before the world ended a few feet away from the men. 

As Lance got closer he caught sight of Romelle sitting with them, her face flushed and her smile dopey. She looked absolutely smitten with whatever she was staring at.

Lance took a seat right next to her, staring at her in confusion. “Romelle...what are you looking at? And who’s watching Esperanza?”

“Florona,” Pidge said without looking up from the book she was reading.

Romelle’s only response was a dreamy sigh and moved his head with her hand to stare straight forward where she was looking. “ _That_.”

Lance’s eyes immediately trained themselves on the figure that was standing in the center of the makeshift practice field. The man was face to face with Matt and while he held a staff in his hands the other man held nothing. His feet were far apart, forming a battle stance and his fists balled up into fists with his thumbs under the rest of his fingers. He was clearly not a rookie when it came down to the correct way to throw a punch.

His face glistened with sweat, purple eyes shining in the early morning rising sun and hair clinging to the back of his neck in a ponytail that had gone limp. The dark tank top he wore was stained with the same sweat that had made its way from his face to his entire body, clinging onto his body tightly. That was when Lance realized that he had very well defined muscles. His arms weren’t muscular but well toned, muscles visible when he clenched his hands together. His abs and pecs weren’t huge either but they were so clearly visible that even Lance felt himself flush a deep shade of red. 

“ _Oh_ ,” he said dryly, voice slightly cracking. 

“I would do anything to be in Holt’s spot right now,” a girl said dreamily, lashes batting wildly. 

“Me too,” another responded in the same star struck tone. 

Pidge let out a scoff from her spot next to Romelle. “Buncha horny teenagers, I swear.” She closed the book she had been reading, throwing her arms up wildly. “Get on with the show, Keith! Stop stripping!”

Keith jerked around suddenly at the sound of his name, staring at Pidge with confusion filled eyes. At that moment Matt took the opportunity to lunge forward, staff raised over his head in preparation to land a blow. 

Just as quick as Keith had turned his attention to Pidge he turned back to Matt, arms crossing in front of his face protectively in an x-shape to avoid getting hit. The metal hit him and he grabbed onto it with both hands before throwing it off to the side, disarming Matt in mere seconds. 

“Do you think he does tutoring?”

“Romelle please stop.”

Keith threw a punch at Matt’s face which the other man quickly evaded, stepping to the side before grabbing onto Keith and throwing him to his right. Keith quickly regained his footing and lunged forward, Matt doing the same. Keith blocked a punch from Matt, raising an arm before landing a punch across his face. Matt’s tumbled backwards but didn’t fall, only wiping his mouth and glaring at Keith.

“Oh, so you’re playing dirty? I like dirty.”

Lance watched them both continue to spar for a couple of minutes before Matt ultimately ended up on the ground on his stomach, arms pinned behind him and Keith’s knee on his back. The girls all cheered at that point, including Romelle who got up and aggressively clapped her hands together loudly. 

“Romelle you are embarrassing us,” Pidge said with a slight glare.

“Who’s us? Lance was enjoying the show too!” Romelle shot back defensively. 

Lance outwardly grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid the stares of the seven teenage girls that had been entranced by Keith just moments prior. 

“Is he the new guy?”

“He’s kinda hot.”

Pidge rolled her eyes at that, “You all disgust me.”

“Lance?”

Lance opened his eyes and came face to face with Keith who was staring down at him. His gaze traveled from his lower torso up to his face, almost immediately noting that it was stained red and his hair was all flattened against his head from all the sweat. 

“Keith.”

“What are you doing out here?”

“I was...well I was…” He cleared his throat before resuming his stoic facade, staring up at Keith. “I wanted to ask if you could clarify some of this ‘training’ stuff. Yeah.”

Keith looked down at him with a small frown before folding his arms across his chest. “What do you need to be clarified for you?”

“Well just...how is this training going to go? Is the captain in charge of hand to hand combat?”

“No, I am,” Keith replied with a small grin. “She’s too busy overseeing the camp and would take you down in less than five seconds. I’m the...well, the better liked hand to hand combat trainer.”

“And the hottest one,” a girl with a Dutch braid sighed dreamily. 

Matt choked on the water he was drinking and Keith only rolled his eyes before extending a hand out towards Lance. The other man looked down skeptically at his hand before looking back up at Keith’s face, his brows raised. 

“What?”

“You’re already up and dressed so you might as well start training now.”

Lance wrinkled his nose at that. “Do I have to train with you right now? I have a feeling that we won’t finish any time soon and I really wanted to shoot at some birds…”

“Only properly trained gunners are allowed to shoot at the live fowl and they all went through hand to hand combat training, so you have to do it too. There are no exceptions…no matter how good you are with a gun,” Keith replied, glancing over at the rifle in Lance’s hands.

Lance let out a sigh before ultimately passing his rifle over to Pidge. He then stood up and noticed for Keith to move, refusing to take his hand but not because he hated him but because he was afraid of touching all that sweat that Keith had gathered from sparring with Matt. He absolutely hated sweaty hands, no matter whose they were. 

Keith led him into the center of the field, stopping in the same place he had been in with Matt a few minutes prior. He quickly took a sip of water from a wrinkled up water bottle before tossing it to the side next to his shirt and a few knives. 

Lance caught him looking him over and his cheeks bloomed red. Was Keith checking him out?

“You’re going to mess up your clothes if you wear that shirt,” Keith said in a slightly amused tone. “Laundry day isn’t until Saturday, you know.”

Lance let out a slight groan before taking off his blue button down t-shirt, trying hard to avoid the stares of the girls that still remained at the table. He threw the shirt to the side right next to Keith’s clothes and pretended he couldn’t hear the gasps from all around him. 

“Fine. I’m ready.”

He knew why they were gasping, and he knew it wasn’t because he was insanely toned. No, they were gasping because he had an insane amount of faded scars on his upper arms and the evidence of a blast from an explosive was slightly visible around his back area where the tank top didn’t cover him.

Lance felt Keith’s eyes on him, but before he could say anything Keith beat him to the punch. 

“Ignore them. They’re only a distraction. The only thing you need to focus on is me. Keep your eyes on me and me only.”

Lance stared at him with wide eyes, jaw slightly agape. 

“Only me.”

Lance nodded and swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his mouth. “Okay.”

“Make a fist with your thumb over your knuckles. If you put your knuckles over your thumb you risk breaking it and you can’t afford injuries like that when battling hand to hand.”

When he saw that Lance formed a proper fist he nodded. “Good. Next is stance. You can’t have your knees straight and locked in position because it preveents fluidity. When you attack an opponent you want to have the upper ground and the extra felxibility gives you that. Have your knees bent slightly and your weight equally balanced out across your feet to avoid stumbling. Your feet have to be firmly planted on the ground.” 

Keith quickly moved a piece of hair out of his eyes, staring directly at Lance. “Any questions so far?”

“What if it’s a surprise attack? When will you have time to get into position?”

“You won’t. But if you practice enough you’ll be able to throw a solid punch and defend yourself properly until you can gain the upper hand.”

“Okay. What’s next?”

“Next is attacking. You never attack first unless you are one hundred percent sure that you can overpower your opponent quickly or they are distracted. You only attack when you have the upper hand.”

“And how do you defend yourself?”

“You remember Wonder Woman?”

A snort escaped Lance’s lips and he flashed Keith a small grin. “You’re not serious.”

“I am. To defend yourself from a punch or staff or whatever weapon that isn’t a gun you have to have your forearms in front of you. You need to cross them over your face.”

“Won’t that hurt?”

“It’s mostly bone so yes it will, but it’ll hurt less than if you get hit with a pole or whip on any other body part. The forearms are more studier and a better form of defense than any other body part like the legs or something.”

“What are you supposed to do with your legs? Kick the guy in the balls?” Lance scoffed.

“Yeah if you’re that desperate to gain the upper hand in an argument,” Keith replied with a small grin. 

“What if I just run away?”

“You only run if the rogues somehow manage to take you hostage and you see an out. Never try outsmarting them unless you absolutely know what you’re doing. Your best bet during captivity is to evade all hits or to defend yourself with your forearms. Then after that all you can do is pray and wait for a chance to escape.”

Lance stared at him curiously. “The captain teach you that?”

Keith looked away for a brief second, eyes downcast. “Something like that.” 

His attention returned back to Lance just as quick as it had left and he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Okay, back to defense. If you can’t block the punches you have to evade them and I don’t really have to explain how you evade, right?”

“The apocalypse is a pretty good teacher on evading the flesh eating deadheads and jerks that aren’t dead.”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“So what? Is that it? Is that all the training?” Lance asked. 

Keith let out a snort of amusement. “Oh you wish that was. To pass the hand to hand combat training you have to beat me in an actual fight.”

Lance raised a brow, looking Keith up and down. “You? But you’re already warmed up! You have a greater advantage over me right now.”

“And that’s how it’s going to be when you’re out there facing deadheads and rogues alike,” Keith said with a frown. “Rogues won’t go easy on you. They’ll always have the upper hand until you find a loophole and take it from them. And the zombies are a whole other type of hand to hand combat training that isn’t required but is recommended you learn. My main priority is to train you so you know how to deal with rogues.”

Lance furrowed his brows in confusion. “But I’ve already come into contact with rogues and I’m–”

“The point of this training is so that you spend less time praying that someone comes to help you and spend more time outsmarting the rogues. The point is to know how to defend yourself well enough to be able to look out for yourself and not have to rely on anyone else. That’s the point of the training,” Keith responded with a deeper frown. 

Before Lance could respond Keith took a few steps backwards, his back facing Lance’s face. Lance only stared at him in confusion, wondering what was wrong with him when all of a sudden he was met with Keith swinging a punch towards his face with his right hand. 

“Oh shit!” Lance yelped before stepping to the side, balling his hands up into fists and forming a fighting stance. “Dude, what the hell?!”

“Attacks will be sudden and you have to be ready at all moments!” Keith shouted, getting into his own fighting stance. 

“Not that sudden!”

Lance let out another yell and evaded another one of Keith’s blows much to the other man’s disappointment. 

“You’re supposed to bring me down, Lance! Not just evade! Although you’re very good at that part!”

An embarrassing shade of red bloomed across Lance’s cheeks as he evaded Keith yet again before an idea made its way into his head. 

When Keith missed, Lance turned around immediately and landed a punch in the middle of his shoulders. He heard Keith let out a gasp of surprise as he stumbled forward before grasping his footing once again, whirling around and throwing another punch. Lance blocked it with his arms before hitting Keith in the gut with his knee, both boys losing their footing. 

Keith held a hand gingerly on his stomach while staring incredulously at Lance, the other boy smiling at him nervously. 

“Oops?”

Keith lunged forward and before Lance could evade him he had him by the neck, his hand balled around the front of his shirt and an unmistakable grin on his lips. His other arm was drawn backwards, his fist clenched and ready to attack. 

Lance let out a groan of defeat before glancing over at the sidelines. Immediately his face drained of any color when he saw Romelle watching him with wide eyes while Pidge turned away with a small shake of her eyes. Florona —who had gathered with the rest of the group to watch— only sneered at him with the baby in her arms, the baby watching with fascinated eyes. 

Florona’s sneer turned into panicked cries and Pidge’s shake of her head turned into a tucked head into Hunk’s chest the whole wall home from the city and Romelle’s wide eyes turned into hatred filled eyes that stared the Galra down with enough malice to end them if looks could do that. Their faces contorted into his worst nightmare and before he knew it he had bucked Keith both in the groin and stomach with his knees, the other man understandably surprised. 

_“You rotten, filthy creatures! Let her go!” Romelle cried out, held back by chains tied down to the basement floor._

Lance grabbed Keith by the arms before spinning him around, holding Keith’s arms high over his head. Keith thrashed around, getting loose and whirling around to grab Lance. 

_“Stop! No! Don’t touch me!” A pain filled scream filled the air and the others in the room shrunk into themselves with tears streaming down their faces._

Before Keith could latch onto Lance, the other man tried to kick him once again but Keith evaded it and instead jumped forward to grab him by his arms. The two stumbled backwards as Keith pinned down Lance with his arms to the side, the other man struggling to move. 

_“Lance, do something! Help her!” Pidge cried out, the tears clearing tracks in her dirt stained face._

“Get off of me!” Lance growled, trying desperately to wriggle around. 

“Lance what the hell is wrong with you?! It’s a training exercise!”

“Let go!”

With a strength he didn't know he possessed, Lance hooked his legs around Keith’s torso and rolled him to the other side. Keith let go of Lance’s hands in the process, a gasp of shock leaving his mouth and those of the others watching the fight. Lance didn’t care and only focused his hatred filled eyes on Keith’s arms. He pinned them down over his head and sat with his legs straddling his hips, a death glare focused on Keith. 

_“Lance...I’m sorry...I’m so sorry…”_

Images of dark brown wavy hair that cascaded down her back that was always tied down in a low ponytail came to mind along with those gorgeous shining blue eyes that always held youthful beauty in them. Small dimples that appeared at the slightest of smiles...a nose that curled forward at the tip...the longest natural eyelashes he had ever seen...and the brightest smile that could bring his heart to a full stop. 

_“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry…”_

“Lance, talk to me! You look like you’re going crazy!” Keith shouted from underneath him. “You win the round! You passed training!”

Lance removed a hand from where it was on Keith’s arm and raised it up, balling it up into a fist. 

“Die you fucking scumbag,” he hissed, fury blazing in his eyes. 

The pieces in Keith’s mind connected and he immediately placed his hands on Lance’s face gently. 

“Lance, you’re not out there. You’re not with the rogues. That passed. You’re at Camp Marmora. Your teammates are safe.”

Lance’s mouth twitched and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, his jaw still clenched tightly. 

“I’m not going to hurt you. You are okay. The Galra aren’t here. You're at a new camp. Your teammates are sitting at that table right over there, waiting for you.”

He moved Lance’s face towards the direction where the table with all his teammates was, the crazed look in the man’s eyes still remaining.

“They’re all there.”

The images of Romelle with her hatred filled eyes shifted into Romelle with worry-filled eyes, her hands reaching out towards him. Pidge’s tears turned into her eyes full of fear and confusion, her body tense and ready to run towards him at any second. Florona’s cries turned into furrowed brows and an unreadable expression, Esperanza clutched even more tightly in her hands.

Lance felt all the rage inside of him disappear and he looked down at Keith’s face. Surprise filled his own eyes as he realized that Keith was pinned under him and then his cheeks bloomed a deep shade of red at the realization that holy shit, Keith was under him and had his hands on his cheeks. 

“Oh my god.”

“Oh thank god,” Keith sighed in relief, lowering his hands to his side. “I thought you were going to kill me.”

“I was about to before you...snapped me out of it.” He averted his gaze to the side, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I need to work out some stuff.”

“Yeah,” Keith affirmed with a nod. “You absolutely do.” He then looked around and his own cheeks flushed red. “And you also need to get off of me.”

“Oh!” Lance practically jumped off and stepped off to the side. He quickly extended a hand for Keith to take which the other man gladly took and helped him up, cheeks still red. “Sorry.”

Keith cleared his throat and willed his blush to go away, folding his arms across his chest. “Not bad. You beat me.”

“I almost killed you. That wasn’t a win, no matter how much I dislike you.”

Keith shook his head in disagreement. “If you took me down like that imagining I was a rogue then I feel sorry for the real rogues. You have a lot of strength when you get heated. It’s... _impressive_.”

“Um...thanks?”

Keith nodded and picked his stuff off the ground. He balled the shirt up and tied his belt back around his waist, the knives shining in the sunlight. He theen turned to look back up at Lance, a small smile on his face.

“You passed. Now you need to get trained by McLevy but don’t forget to practice the skills I taught you. If you don’t practice you’ll forget them.”

“Believe me, I won’t.” Lance then paused, furrowing his brows together in confusion. “I don’t even think I used the techniques you showed me.”

Keith only let out a small laugh before shaking his head. “No, you didn’t.” He then gestured towards the bathrooms that had various men and women walking in and out. “When you’re done getting trained by McLevy you should go take a bath down there. Bath days are usually Saturday for women and kids but since the men get back Sunday morning after going hunting there’s still water to take a bath today.”

Glancing around he leaned into Lance’s ear. “They tend to take baths between five and six in the afternoon so if you want privacy you should take it around eight. No one takes baths around that time.”

He then stepped away from Lance and flashed him a small smile. “See you around.” He walked away from him and Matt soon came after him, chattering loudly.

Lance could only stare after them with confusion filled eyes, his hand still clutching onto the fabric of his shirt. He barely registered when Romelle and Pidge came up to him, still focused on Keith’s retreating figure. It was only when Romelle placed a hand on his shoulder that his attention finally snapped away from Keith and he focused in on his friends.

“Lance, are you alright?” Romelle asked gently.

“Yeah,” he replied with a small frown. He then looked past her towards the water where he saw a few children eagerly pestering the lifeguard who still looked half asleep. 

“Do you guys want to go swimming? Because I do.”

“Lance–”

“Bring Esperanza. She needs to learn how to swim.”

He walked away from the two women, desperately evading the question. Pidge and Romelle could only look back at him with disappointed looks, but instead of saying anything they followed after him silently.

* * *

“James, please–”

“No.”

“You have to try and cooperate with me here!” 

“ _No_.”

Nadia let out a frustrated groan, setting the bowl of soup on the empty spot on James’ bed. “Stop being so picky! You’re in the middle of the zombie apocalypse; you have no time to ask for chicken tenders and French fries!”

“But that soup had a lint ball in it. A _lint ball_.”

“It was a feather from one of the birds they’re plucking for dinner today!” Nadia said exasperatedly. “Just eat the freaking soup!”

“And I see James is up,” Keith said dryly as he walked into the tent. 

“Oh great,” James deadpanned, “you’re here. Don’t I get to request who gets to visit me?”

“I’m your team leader,” Keith said with a roll of his eyes, standing behind Nadia who was sitting in a chair. “It’s my job to check up on you now that your brain isn’t corked.”

“I wish it was corked. Then I wouldn’t have to go on any more runs.”

Keith let out a small sigh, folding his arms across his chest. “I already spoke to the captain about that. She’s decided that if you decide to, then she won’t force you to go on any runs. You’re off the hook, Griffin.”

James gaped at him incredulously. “She said that? No way. The captain would never take someone away from a team.”

“You ended up in a coma due to a rogue,” Nadia reminded him with a small glare. “You’re not brain corked but you sure are acting like it.”

“Captain says that you aren't required to go on any runs but once you’re better you have to retrain with McLevy. She’s afraid one of our ‘best snipers’ will lose his touch.”

“Best sniper? She finally saw my potential,” James said with a grin before wincing, putting a hand up to his abdomen. “Shit. Nadia, I think I need more soup.”

“I’m sorry, I thought it was too ‘linty’ for you.”

“I was joking!” James cried out. “Feed me? Please?”

”Too linty?” Keith echoed in confusion. “Do I want to know?”

“Nope,” Nadia replied as she stuck a spoonful of soup into James’ mouth. 

Suddenly she perked up and grinned mischievously, turning her attention towards Keith. 

“So. I heard that you were training with Lance this morning. Want to tell me what that’s about?”

“Who’s Lance?” James asked with a wrinkled nose. “I don’t bother to remember campers who aren’t part of the runners. Is he one of them?”

“No, he’s the guy that kidnapped Keith and I during our run to the city and forced us to bring him back to camp,” Nadia deadpanned.

James looked up at Keith incredulously. “You let a man kidnap you and manipulate you into bringing him back to camp? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I did not let him manipulate me,” Keith said irritatedly. “He had a group that was hiding out from rogues. They were all in pretty rough shape.”

“So? Our resources at camp are already strained and you didn’t come out of the city with much, I’m assuming.”

“The resources we came back with were piled on with their supplies that we loaded onto that bus that’s parked in the lot right now,” Keith said with a toss of his head to the left. “And I know they’re strained. But I couldn’t let them die out there.”

“What was so important about them that you decided to risk the campers’ lives to bring back new people?”

“There were two kids who haven’t even made it to ten years old and a baby that isn’t even one yet,” Keith deadpanned. “That’s what was so important.”

James’ mouth fell open and he immediately swiveled his head to face Nadia. “Why didn’t you tell me there were kids involved? I wouldn’t have yelled at him if I knew!”

“I just wanted to see how you would react,” Nadia replied with a shrug. 

“ _Anyways_ ,” Keith continued, “yes, Nadia, I trained with him earlier today. He beat me during our first fight.”

“Didn’t it take the others like months to beat you?” 

“Yes but he...had different ideals,” Keith said with a small frown. “I think he was imagining me as a rogue. He went feral on me and pinned me down in the span of two minutes. I had to snap him out of his trance.”

“By caressing his cheeks lightly and talking to him in the sweetest of voices,” Nadia cooed. 

James let out a bark of laughter before groaning, touching his abdomen again. “Oh, that was worth it.”

“I did not caress his cheeks!” Keith said indignantly, his own cheeks flushing red. “I had to get his attention and that just happened to be how I did it! He needed to be stabilized before he smashed my head into pieces.”

“He pinned you down and held you by your arms above your head and you just looked up at him with these _huge_ eyes and extremely red cheeks,” Nadia continued with a cackle. “Dude, I have never seen you get so heated when Matt pins you down like that for training. This guy must really have caught your attention, huh?”

“What?! No!”

“Oh no,” James said with a mock pout. “Keith, I don’t know if you knew this but falling in love with someone who hasn’t passed the two week mark is illegal!”

“I am not in love with him! I was just taken off guard by how he pinned me down...why am I explaining this to you guys? You’re just going to use it to bully me later.”

“That’s what friends are for, duh,” Nadia said with a cheeky grin. 

“You are so lucky I don’t hit girls.”

“It’s not like you have much of a taste for them anyways.”

“Nadia, _please_.”

Nadia let out a loud laugh while James tried to hide the grin that was on his face with his hand. Keith could only pinch the bridge of his nose and try to will his blush down, desperately praying that no one would notice it. 

“Keith.”

The laughter immediately stopped and all three heads snapped to the new figure standing at the foot of the bed.

“Mom?” Keith asked confusedly.

“Keith. We need to discuss something with you.”

“We?”

“The others are in the main tent. And yes, that means McClain is there too. And Nadia you are welcome to come along too but I have a sneaking suspicion that James still hasn’t eaten.”

James smiles sheepishly and Nadia sent Krolia an apologetic look. “Sorry. He’s being picky, but I can ask Keith for the details later...if that’s alright with you, that is.”

“Of course it is. I just wanted you there to see if you had an opinion on what we were going to talk about but I’m sure that if you can’t make it you will make your opinion heard sooner than later.”

“Nadia, you should go,” James said with a frown. “I would go too if I could but I’m stuck here. You can just get one of the nurses to finish giving me the soup.”

Nadia looked down at him uncertainly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I know you want to be out there,” he said with a warm smile. “I’ll be okay. Nothing can poison me more than the lint ball.”

“Lint ball?” Krolia echoed in confusion. 

Keith shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

Krolia sent him one last confused look before shaking her head. “Alright then. Come on. The rest of the runners are bound to get angry.”

Nadia and Keith looked at each other curiously as she led them out of the medical tent. Each wanted to ask a question but they knew that the captain wouldn’t answer it until they were in front of everything. That being said, the two of them were eager to see what exactly made the captain order a meeting to take place so late at night.

They walked into the tent hurriedly and almost immediately Keith could tell something was wrong. 

No one rose to greet the captain, everyone too busy with their own worries. Ryan wore a grim expression and Ina had her notebook in her lap, closed with a firm hand over the cover. McLevy actually looked worried along with the others of his age. Matt looked unusually serious and Pidge was looking pointedly away from Lance, who was glaring at her with such an intensity that he didn’t know how Pidge hadn’t snapped at him yet. Romelle was sitting next to Lance with her bat laying next to her chair, her fingers tracing the patterns of the stitches on her jeans. Everyone looked stressed and worried and a sinking feeling formed in his gut. 

He knew what this meeting was about. 

“Rogues,” Nadia whispered to herself as her face drained of any color.

“ _Shit_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time time no update! So sorry to keep you waiting. I haven't posted but I have written almost half of the story, but life has suddenly gotten a lot more busy than it should be. College is so stressful. Like, genuinely, why chemistry? 
> 
> ANYWAYSSSS I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As usual, kudos and feedback are greatly appreciated. <3 Thanks for reading!


	7. highway to hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting is held where certain things are revealed and a new mission is given. Lance and Keith make some progress with their friendship.

The rogues weren’t always such a prominent threat. At least, that’s what Keith liked to think. 

When the apocalypse began the only thing he and the whole world were worried about was the living dead that had taken over. People were worried about heading up north to Canada where they figured that the cold would freeze the zombies and slow them down. Some people were trying to escape to islands because they figured those were ‘safe spots’. People were worried about having the right amount of toilet paper and other essentials when they fled their overrun towns and cities. People were worried about simply living to see another day. 

The zombies were the main threat at the beginning of the apocalypse, and for Keith, the only threat. At eighteen he was still naive and ‘fearless’. That didn’t last long, however, when rogues began to pop up. 

The rogues were more dangerous than the dead. They knew how to use weapons to their advantage and could easily manipulate people. That’s what they were good at, which was why people didn’t believe the rumors that managed to get around from one group to another that they rarely ran into. The rogues started out as seemingly nice people that asked for refuge or offered it, but once they got what they wanted they would butcher those innocent people that were simply looking for some normalcy in the middle of a fucked up world. 

Keith knew what Lance had told him the night before was true; he had seen it happen up close. A small group camping out in the house in front of where he and Shiro were staying let some people in one night and before the end of the week they were all perched on stakes like trophies, being fed on by zombies outside of their home. That was when Shiro had decided that it was time to go and when Keith first experienced fear at the hands of the rogues. 

That wouldn’t be his last encounter with the rogues, though. No one ever only had ‘one’ interaction with them; no, they were so widely spread out that everyone fell into their trap more than once. Everyone at Camp Marmora had a rogue story that they shared and one they didn’t; even Krolia. It was why the topic of rogues at the meeting set a thick tension in the air and an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. 

He just _knew_ the others felt the same. 

Krolia took a seat in the center right between Matt and Keith, a firm frown on her face. “Alright, now that we’re all settled I would like to set some ground rules. As most of you know we will be talking about rogues today and we cannot have that information being leaked out to the other campers. They have had enough with rogues and don’t need another reminder that they exist.”

“Rule one: no one talks about whatever we discuss here with anyone outside of this tent. Rule two: all comments about rogues must be let here. Rule three: be cordial when speaking to one another and don’t shout. We don’t need any successful eavesdropping.”

She nodded. “Right then. Now that that’s out of the way...Kolivan?”

He nodded and stood up, folding his arms behind his back. “Thank you. As everyone knows, we sent out a group of runners to the city. Their goal was to stay for two weeks and return with supplies. However, a rogue attack prevented that.”

“Out of the five people sent on the mission only three were injured–”

“Yeah,” a teenage girl scoffed, “Rizavi and Kogane. They were probably making out in the city while everyone else was being slaughtered.”

“That is not–!” Keith was stopped by a sharp glare from Krolia. He rested his back against his chair, arms folded and piercing glare trained on the girl. “Kolivan, were you finished? Or can I talk?”

“You may speak.”

“I know many of you in here have your opinion about my personal relationships, but just because Rizavi and I went out together does not mean that we were doing something inappropriate,” Keith said, bristling with anger. “No one knows what really happened out there except us and as such, no one has a right to make a comment about what was happening.”

“So what _were_ you doing out there? Why did you leave your team for so long that they ended up being ambushed by rogues?” the same girl asked. 

“Leifsdottir helped me come up with a rotation plan that would allow a group of two to be sent into the city daily to grab whatever they could and come back by nightfall. This was done to avoid attracting large hordes or the attention of any rogues but we were distracted by what we found in the city.”

His eyes flickered over towards Lance. The man stared at him with a tired look, looking absolutely defeated. 

“Oh really?” McLevy spoke up. “What exactly distracted you so long that you failed to make it back before nightfall?”

“The city was full of an exceptional amount of dead, greater than we had calculated,” Keith lied, eyes catching Lance’s brows shooting up in surprise. 

“We got a few streets in before we encountered a large horde that seemed to be moving towards the heart of the city. This one was roughly as large as the one we had to take out yesterday. Rizavi and I took one out and they all started going crazy trying to find us. We had to hide out for a good couple of hours in an apartment complex, but by the time the horde had cleared it was already dark. Our radio was busted so we couldn’t contact our team to let them know what had happened.”

“And I’m assuming that you met the other group you brought back during this hideout?” A blonde male — Anderson, if Keith remembered correctly— spoke up. 

“Yes.”

“Then you somehow found a functioning school bus in a city overrun by a horde of walkers that you used to bring back those you had found to your base.”

“Yes.”

“And once you arrived at the base you saw that your team members had been practically slaughtered so you ran back here for help.”

“Exactly.”

“ _Bullshit_ ,” Anderson spat without a second to spare. “You expect us to believe that? It doesn’t add up. Tell shit how it is or don’t speak, kid!”

Keith saw Lance open his mouth and he quickly extended his hands out, gently moving them. “Okay, Okay! That’s not the truth. But I know you all won’t like the truth when I tell you what it is.”

“Get to the point, kid.”

“Rizavi and I _were_ assigned to the first run, but we didn’t come back because we were overrun. In fact, there weren’t any zombies out there,” he said defeatedly. “The city was cleared out.”

“It’s true,” Nadia spoke up quietly. “The dead bodies were piled up in these huge stacks. Some didn’t even look like bodies because of how burnt they were.”

“I’m sorry, but did you say _burnt_?” Matt echoed with a pale face. 

“There were some bodies that were burnt and some that were clearly taken out by knives or guns. But there were just these...big piles of dead bodies littering the streets. And the smell...it smelled so _bad_. It smelled a thousand times worse than the living dead. This was actual burnt flesh.”

“The streets were empty except for the bodies which immediately made us suspicious,” Keith continued. “We were cautious and looked for live zombies but found none. Then we decided to poke around for supplies since we were already there.”

“Our plan was to come back with our bags full and report to Leifsdottir that the city was basically cleared. Then we would make another plan to deal with the new occurrence. But we never made it back that day.”

“And why was that?”

“Because rogues began to pour in one by one into the city in tanks and cars. Endless streams of rogues poured in and we had to hide.” He then cast a glance over at Lance, who was staring up at him with a frown. “Then we met McClain. He helped us get out of that pharmacy and into an apartment complex that was hidden well away from the rogues.”

“We hid there for hours and instead of kicking us out, he only asked us for one favor: refuge for the children and his team members. We said yes but by the time we headed back to our base the sun had set. We couldn’t tell anyone what had happened back at the base because the radio wasn’t working so we had to wait until the next day to make an escape. But as you all know, it was too late. The rogues had already done a number on the rest of our team.”

Krolia turned to face Lance. “Can you confirm that, McClain?”

Lance opened his mouth to say something before his gaze flickered over to Keith. Realizing that Keith was protecting him he closed his mouth and nodded instead. 

“Yes.”

“Hold on now,” McLevy spoke up. “Just how convenient is it that you were there at the exact moment Kogane needed help in?”

“Are you accusing my team of being rogues?” Lance asked suspiciously, “because if you are, you can stop right there. None of us are rogues.”

“We can’t exactly take your word for that can we, though?” McLevy sneered. 

Keith saw how Lance’s jaw clenched tightly and his fists dug into the sides of his chair. His first instinct was to jump to Lance’s defense but before he could do anything Romelle stood up slowly, clutching something hanging from her neck. 

“How dare you insinuate that we are rogues?” She whispered incredulously, her eyes narrowed and trained on McLevy. “How dare you insinuate that we are associated with those blood thirsty killers? How dare you even say it?”

She inhaled sharply, clenching the object a bit tighter in her grip. “You have absolutely no idea what we went through at the hands of the rogues. We were a team with more than fifty people. We had a camp just like yours until one day it was overrun by walkers. Then the rogues took the rest of our survivors from us, killing them while lying to us about being helpful.”

She let out a small shudder. “You have no idea what we went through in the city; the battle that we fought to get our people back. You have no idea how many people we heard get tortured until their lifeless bodies were thrown in front of us to get us to behave. You have no idea how only fifteen people came back, traumatized from fighting only to die from extensive injuries. You have no idea what that battle against the rogues was like and for you to insinuate that we were part of them?!”

She yanked the object out from under her shirt, but to everyone’s shock it wasn’t just one object. In her hands she held about five dog tags, each glistening in the low light of the lamps. 

“We didn’t lose good people, _family_ , for you to insinuate that we are rogues!” She shouted angrily, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. “The rogues are monsters that destroyed any normal we found in the middle of the apocalypse! They took everything I ever cared about! They took...they took innocent lives and tortured us for _weeks_ until we escaped. We lost one of the bravest, most stubborn fighters out there who died so we could escape!”

Romelle clutched the top dog tag tighter, her hand shaking. “She was the bravest out of all of us. She died the biggest hero after Iverson, our team captain, who was hanged as a form of mockery. She…” she let out a shaky exhale, “she blew the facility up so we could escape. She died so we could escape those rogues who ruined our lives!”

She shook her head, glaring at a pale McLevy with murderous eyes. “So don’t you dare insinuate that we are rogues, because they took every single little thing that was good and killed it!”

A silence fell across the room when she stopped talking, all eyes trained on Romelle. That included Lance who had a pained expression on his face and his hands sitting limply in his lap. 

Romelle took one last look at McLevy before turning to Krolia, her chin held up high. 

“We’re not rogues, but we were in the city long enough before we met Keith and his friend to see what they were doing.”

She nodded at Lance and he quickly turned his attention to Krolia. 

“Is that true?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. 

“Well then tell us what you observed.”

“The city was full of undead the last time we went around the end of March. There were no rogues there. But when our supplies began to dwindle down we decided to head back for a day or two, and each week we went we noticed that there were less and less undead and more piles of bodies. It wasn’t until we returned two weeks ago that we saw that the dead were being exterminated by the rogues who somehow managed to acquire military equipment.”

“What sort of military equipment?”

“They had these tanks that used to get the undead to chase them with. Then they would plant bombs before taking cover. Once the bombs exploded, a bunch of people with guns would appear from the roof to take out any undead that the blasts hadn’t killed because some were drawing around. Those people are more dangerous than any walking dead.”

Krolia shifted her head up a bit. “So you knew why the dead were in piles and never mentioned it to Keith?” 

Lance stared at her for a few seconds before fixing her with a stoic glare. “No ma’am, I never did because I didn’t know if he was a rogue spy sent to bring me back to them for killing their leader.”

Numerous gasps erupted in the group, including those of Pidge who looked absolutely shocked that he had admitted to doing it. 

Keith himself was blown away by the sudden declaration, staring at Lance with his jaw unhinged. 

“You killed a rogue leader?”

“Just the one who imprisoned my group for weeks,” Lance replied bitterly. “He deserved it. I took him out from the roof of a building a couple of blocks away from where he was.” 

“So you actually killed a rogue leader?” The same girl who had interrogated Keith practically purred. “That’s amazing.”

“His guys have been out for my head ever since they found out it was me, but they’ve never found me. They’re unfocused without a leader to tell them what to do. That’s why I needed refuge, even if it was just for my daughter and my niece and nephew.”

He folded his arms across his chest, looking back at Keith. “Your son was very generous in bringing us back even though he was in a rogue infested city.” _Even though I held a rifle to his head_ went unsaid by both. 

“Keith has a good sense of character. It’s why he’s brought back so many wonderful assets to our camp,” Krolia said with a proud smile. “However, we are drifting off topic. The rogues, McClain. How can you be so sure they didn’t know your location?”

“We went months without any interactions. The street we were on was hidden and had frequent undead roaming around, but never too many for us to handle. It was the perfect coverup. The rogues were so disorganized that anyone who did wander into the street was eaten.”

“Or killed,” Romelle spoke up with a dark look in her eyes. 

Lance nodded slightly, his eyes never leaving Krolia. “We took no chances. If they did as much as wander into our street and make it out without getting mauled, either Florona or I would take them out with our weapons. No rogue ever left.”

“And you absolutely knew that they were rogues?”

“They all held drawn tattoos with the rogue symbol; you know, the purple circle with the snake inside of it. The exact same sign was spray painted over the house where Keith’s team was stationed.”

“Is this true, Keith?” Krolia asked.

“Yes. The sign was still fresh and the rogues inside were just starting to settle in when we took them out,” Keith said with a frown. “They couldn’t have been there more than a few hours or less when we arrived.”

Anderson leaned forward in his chair. “So you killed them is what I’m hearing. You killed rogues who most likely have a group that will be out for blood.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Keith snapped angrily. “They had tortured my group in the brief few hours they were there and shot one of them to the point where he was bleeding out slowly on the kitchen floor! What was I supposed to do? Tie them up and ask nicely for an explanation while James bled out on the floor?”

He let out a scoff and glared at Anderson. “I’m not you. I don’t lose team members because I stay and question everything instead of doing what I can to save them. I actually have a brain, unlike you who left half of your team to die because you were afraid the rogues would take you out even though you had enough men to take them out.”

“That’s enough,” Krolia said as she rose up, trying to calm down the murmurs that were spreading throughout the room.

Keith only surveyed the room while sitting back with his arms crossed. Not a single drop of regret was in his system even though he knew Anderson would take it out on the fowl later and that his mom would most likely give him a long scolding. None of that mattered because he was standing up for himself and he had done one hell of a job doing so, he believed.

His eyes flickered over to Pidge and he caught her staring at him with a wide grin. 

“Oh shit,” he heard Pidge say in an impressed tone, leaning back to whisper in Matt’s ear, “did he really do that?”

“We lost more than twenty runners in the camp because he was scared to take down a few rogues,” Matt said while staring at Keith. “He claimed the run had gone bad because they clashed with a horde but McLevy ratted him out. Keith found out and his hatred against Anderson began.”

“Why?”

“No one knows,” he heard Matt say before tearing his gaze away from Keith.

“Everyone calm down!” Krolia shouted, pulling him out of his thoughts. “We are drifting off topic once again. Now that we have cleared up if there are rogues in the city we need to come up with a plan?”

“A plan?” Lance echoed, his features hardening. 

“Yes, a plan. The city cannot be off limits even if there is a presence of rogues there. It is the only place we have access to that actually has supplies. We have enough for now but they won’t last for more than two months even if we ration them. There needs to be access to the city.”

“Are you saying that you want us to take out an army of rogues ourselves?” Nadia asked incredulously. 

“Not take out, Rizavi. I just need to send a team out there to scout out the area and come back to me with a general idea of what we might encounter out there.”

Nadia shook her head in disbelief. “Did you not see what they did to James and everyone else? They tortured them so bad that they had to spend days in the medical tent getting treated. James came back shot and the rogues were only four in that house! What do we do if we encounter more than four? What if they capture us?”

“It’s too risky,” Keith said in agreement with Nadia. “We’re trained to deal with rogues but that might not be enough if there’s hordes of them. At this point the rogues are more dangerous than the zombies.”

“I understand those fears, but we cannot lose access to the city. When wintertime comes we need easy access to it which is why we need to start planning a way to take it back _now_.” She turned her attention to Matt, the man slowly shaking his head. 

“I will be sending the most well trained runners out there to observe the rogues. You will all be given supplies to last you a week although I doubt you will need that amount of supplies. You should try to be in and out in three days.”

She inhaled sharply, looking around the room. “I will not be sending anyone who has not been on a run for more than three months with exception of Matt Holt who was the team leader of the runners before Keith. He and Keith will be in charge of Nadia Rizavi, Lance McClain and Katie Holt. This is not up for negotiation.”

“Pidge and Lance?” Keith repeated confusedly. He turned to Nadia to tell her something but then held himself back upon seeing her face full of rage. 

“Am I understood?”

The five mentioned nodded tersely, not uttering a word.

“You leave tomorrow morning. If anyone has any questions for me, you are welcome to stay to ask them. This meeting is dismissed.”

Immediately murmurs began as the crowd began to filter out of the tent, many arguing over the captain’s decision. Keith only heard bits and pieces but heard enough to see that many were against her decision. It left a bitter feeling in his mouth because what they were saying was right. It was extremely dangerous and something was more than likely to go wrong. But what the captain said went and there was no arguing.

Keith let out a small sigh before turning around to face his mother. He flashed her a small placid smile, suddenly tired. “I’m going to go get some sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Krolia opened her mouth to say something but Keith didn’t let her talk, instead turning around and walking out of the tent. Krolia was the only one in the tent after he left, everyone else having gone out to grab some dinner or, in the runners’ case, to sleep for the run tomorrow.

“Hey.”

Keith raised his brows and turned his head to his left, confused as to who called out to him. “Huh?”

“I said hey,” Lance said, arms folded across his chest. 

“Oh. Hey.” Keith frowned, “did you need something?”

Lance’s lips scrunched up a bit as he chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. “Why um...why did your mom choose me? I have kids to take care of and she knows that.”

“That’s something you should ask her about,” Keith replied quietly. “I wouldn’t have picked you either. The whole reason you left your base was to get away from the rogues, but I guess my mom thinks you know more about them than we do. It’s true in a way, but I never would’ve made you take it.”

“Who would you have picked?”

“I...I don’t know. Probably Romelle because she seems to have it out for the rogues and would go along without being asked. And Florona,” Keith said with a small furrow of his brows. “She seems like she can kick some serious ass.”

“Yeah, that's Florona. But she never would’ve accepted. She would’ve raised hell. She thinks it’s her duty to look out for Esperanza because I am ‘incompetent as a father’,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. 

“She was out there in the morning with the baby right? I guess my mom saw that and thought that she could look after her while we’re out on the run,” Keith suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. 

Lance let out a small sigh, averting his gaze to the ground. “I guess so.”

After a beat of silence Keith awkwardly cleared his throat, looking around. 

“So do you have another question or can I–”

“Why did you cover for me?” Lance asked suddenly, pulling his gaze back up to Keith. 

Keith was taken aback by the statement, not because it was wrong but because how stupid was he? He had obviously lied to protect his position at the camp. 

“I lied so you wouldn’t get kicked out of the camp,” Keith said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “If my mom knew you had held me at gunpoint and demanded that I bring you back to camp she would’ve had you fed to the zombies. I did it to protect you.”

“You didn’t have to, though.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“So why did you?”

Keith paused, looking into Lance’s eyes. He was searching for something but all he saw were hurricanes and thunderstorms inside his blue eyes full of turmoil. He looked so determined to get an answer, and Keith felt a blush sweep across his cheeks as he realized that he had subconsciously stepped forward to the point where there was barely enough space between them. 

“I...I don’t know,” he admitted quietly, lowering his gaze to his hands. “I don’t know why I did it. But I don’t regret it. I don’t regret protecting you and your group. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.”

Lance stared at him for a few more seconds before looking away awkwardly, putting a hand to the back of his neck. 

“Now I feel like a jerk for hating you.”

“Huh?”

“I thought you were this stuck up guy who thought he was boss and did things just to make himself look good but I see now that that’s not true. You’re actually a nice person with some people.”

“You can’t be nice with everyone during the apocalypse,” Keith said with a sad smile. “You lose good people like that.”

Like Shiro.

Lance flashed him a small smile. “Well, I just wanted to thank you for...you know. Standing up for us. I didn’t think you’d do it considering the circumstances we met but...thank you. For everything you’ve done so far.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith returned with a smile of his own. 

They stood there for a few seconds just smiling at each other before Keith cleared his throat, looking away from Lance and back at the medical tent where he knew Nadia was. 

“I should uh, get back to the medical tent. I was checking up on James before I was pulled for the meeting…”

“Oh, he’s up?” Lance let out a small chuckle. “That’s one tough guy.”

“Yeah,” Keith chuckled awkwardly. He waved at Lance before taking a few steps back, still grinning weirdly. “Well uh, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What time?”

“When the sun rises over the first hill,” Keith said as he continued to walk away. “Okay, bye!”

He quickly bolted for the medical tent, his cheeks beet red and his lips in a goofy smile. It could’ve been because he was running but he swore his heart was beating faster, the sound loud in his ears as it thudded rhythmically in his chest. _Thump thump. Thump thump._

He entered the tent and made his way to the back where he knew Nadia and James were. 

The two only watched him walk in with curious looks, Nadia sitting on the edge of James’ bed and the man holding a book in his hands. 

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked with a wrinkle of his nose as Keith sat down in the chair next to his bed. 

“I’m so, so screwed,” Keith mumbled and let his face fall into his hands. 

Nadia’s lips contorted to form a wicked grin and she leaned down to pat his back. “So you _did_ enjoy getting pinned down by him, huh?”

“ _Nadia_!”

* * *

After being tormented by Nadia relentlessly for an hour and James for thirty minutes —it took him that long to understand what was going on— he had gone off to bed. As expected his mother had not been there and Matt had moved out to live in a tent with his sister so he had the whole RV to himself. He quickly changed and went to bed, already tired from the run which he hadn’t even gone on yet. 

When he woke up in the morning he felt a strange wave of dejavú wash over him. The morning scene was all too similar to the one from when they had left for their first run to the city one week ago; the birds were chirping and the sun was barely visible over the mountain top. There were a few stray souls up wandering about, most of them heading to the bathroom and others getting some exercise in. The boat that sat in the middle of the lake was visible with the men who had stood guard at night watching for water ghouls messing around with one another. 

The only difference now between the scene last week was that they were leaving in a different car with a different group on a much deadlier run. 

He was the first one up since Krolia had woken him up at the first light of day. She had gone around waking up the other runners before helping him pack a few extra things into the bag he would be taking on the run. A few of the runners who wouldn’t be going on the trip were there as well, most of them only there to say goodbye because they thought they wouldn’t be coming back. 

Keith rested in the front seat of the fifteen person passenger van, lazily looking out the side window with a granola bar. His eyes focused on a bird hopping around on the other cars that had long ceased to move. A small smile made its way to his lips when he saw the bird take a shit on a black car before flying away. There was absolutely nothing comical about that but it was early in the morning and he was bored. 

“Why are you staring out the window with a creepy grin?” 

Keith rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the man in the driver’s seat. “A bird took a shit on Anderson’s old car.”

“ _That’s_ what amuses you?” Matt asked incredulously. “ _That_ amuses you but not me trying to do a frat boy initiation ceremony at two in the morning?”

“There is nothing funny about running through the woods ass naked with a mask on your face.”

“Uh, I beg to differ,” Matt said with a sassy hair toss. “It boosts morale during these trying times.”

“And how does it do that, exactly?” 

“Well, since the guys are basically in a frat now that I am the leader they can all chill and be ultimate bros on the beach. You know, they form friendships!”

Keith raised a brow. “Aren’t they all friends already?”

“Oh you poor, socially estranged soul,” Matt said with a woeful shake of his head. “Lipuori hates Hayes because he thinks he stole his slides when in reality it was Jenson who stole them and now Figuerora–”

“Okay, Okay! I get it! You’re ‘best bros’ with the kids who are five years younger than you,” Keith said with his hands raised up in surrender. “Now please stop bombarding me with names. I didn’t even know Linguini and Figs were last names.”

“Lipuori and Figuerora,” Matt corrected with a small glare. “God, the frat bros would hate you. They’d make you join the frat to see what you’re missing out on.”

“Matt, you never joined a frat during college,” a voice piped up dryly from behind him. “You were a musical theater major.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t make up my own frat now,” Matt said without turning a round to face his sister. “What are the guys gonna do, accuse me with Alpha Sigma Phi? All those frat guys are dead!”

Keith shook his head. “And to think that could’ve been you if you weren’t such a geek.”

Pidge let out a cackle of laughter, making Keith crack a small grin. 

“Oh, I like you. You’re like the cooler version of Lance.”

“Excuse you, I am cool,” Lance said as he jumped into the van, bag slugged over his shoulder. “Move over, Pidge. Your ass does not need to cover two seats.”

“No you’re not,” she said with a snort. “You’re a parent now, dude. You were _wayyyy_ cooler when you used to have shooting competitions with me and didn’t have a kid to worry about.”

“You just say that because you hate kids,” he retorted with a dry look. 

“All they do is cry and beg for food. If I do that I get in trouble.”

“Pidge, you’re not one. You’re one plus twenty. Of course you’re going to get in trouble.”

“I’m just saying–”

“James, please–”

“I want to go!”

Keith jerked up out of his seat at the sound of James’ voice, turning his head to the left to see if he was really there. To his shock, James was standing with the help of Ina and Ryan with his face scrunched up in pain.

“What the hell is he doing here?” He asked Matt. He received a shrug from the older man, making him groan. 

“You’ve been out for a week because of a bullet wound. There is no way in hell you are going on a mission with us!” Nadia said frustratedly. 

“But I can’t let you go alone! There’s rogues out there!”

“I'm not alone! Keith and Matt are going and so are two other people!”

“Keith and Matt both can’t shoot for shit!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Keith said before leaning across Matt’s lap to roll down the window. “Hey Griffin!”

“Keith! Who the hell thought of this plan because I will–”

“Yeah, yeah, I know!” Keith said irritatedly. “Just shut up and go back to the medical tent! Nadia is one of our best gunners and so is Lance who is coming with us. We don’t always need you to come shoot up everything, you know.”

“I don’t even know who they are!”

“James, go back to the tent,” Keith said through grit teeth.

“No!”

“James Griffin go back to the tent or so help me I will get out of this van and make sure that you never see another run or another day ever again!”

Everyone stared at Keith with shocked expressions except for Lance, who had a small grin tugging at the corners of his lips. 

“Wh–”

“Griffin, I am giving you till three to get your ass back to bed,” Keith said with a dark glare. “One…”

“But–!”

“Two!”

“Fine!” James shouted frustratedly, gripping into Ina and Ryan tightly. “But I’m only going back because I want to, not because you’re telling me to!”

“Whatever. Just get back to the tent so you can get better and go on runs with us in a couple of weeks.”

“I just have one last thing to say.”

“Oh for the love of–”

“You protect them out there, got it?” James said, features hardened. “Don’t leave them alone in a house and don’t split up. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Don’t pull an Anderson.”

Keith only frowned at that before nodding. “Get back to bed.”

James sent him one final look before Ryan and Ina helped him turn around to face Nadia. His features relaxed all at once and a look of worry filled his eyes. 

“Be safe out there,” he said softly before hugging her as hard as he could. 

Nadia flushed red and nodded before hopping into the van. She closed the door behind her quickly and avoided eye contact with everyone in the van, mainly Keith who looked absolutely bewildered. 

“Nadia…” Matt began, only to be cut off by the woman herself. 

“Shut up!”

“How the hell did you let this happen? I thought you were playing hard to get!”

“Matt, shut _up_ ,” she hissed, her cheeks becoming redder by the second. “Just drive already!”

“Okay, Okay! Yeesh, I thought you were playing cold with James, not me.”

“Oh for the love of…”

She trailed off as she caught Keith staring at her with a smug grin, his elbow propped up on the armrest and chin resting in his hand. 

“What are you looking at, Keith?”

“So you _did_ enjoy that hug, huh?”

“ _Keith_!”

Keith let out a loud laugh as Matt pulled out of the parking lot, pulling his attention from Nadia to his window. This teasing and joking was certainly not how he had expected their ride into possible doom to begin, but hey it was better than all seriousness. 

However, he knew that would soon change. As soon as they could see the outline of the city all laughter would die, guns would be loaded and the heavy feeling of impending doom would settle over them. They’d have to crawl into a city infested with people who wanted them dead and then there’d certainly be no laughter. 

So Keith laughed and laughed, and soon the others joined in with him, including Nadia because they all knew this could possibly be the last time they would be able to laugh like this. 

They kept laughing all the way down the road, and for a small moment they all seemed like normal twenty year olds instead of zombie killing machines. Just for one moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sorry to have been gone for so long! First semester finals are right around the corner and I absolutely HATE it here. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello folks! I have written a zombie fanfic before, but I am finally writing one that is solely going to be klance-centric. I absolutely love anything to do with zombies and writing my own zombie apocalypse story excites me. I am very excited to write this and have been planning it for a while, and I sincerely hope that you all enjoy this work. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated as well as feedback, and once again I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you for reading! More chapters are soon to come. <3


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